While Adam and Henrietta’s relationship is less passionate than that of the Poldarks, it has some interesting twists. The first novel in the epic God Is an Englishman series, this book is a stirring saga of England in the 19th century, as the Industrial Revolution takes hold, forever changing the landscape of England and her people. I seldom select a “series” of books, I usually prefer my stories in one sweet volume, however, I am feeling a nice bit of satisfaction knowing that I have not closed the final page on Adam and company. Another one is the multitude of characters, bad, good and just average, but they all change, they all grow and, as a reader, you really have your pick in which ones are going to be your favorites. The road ahead of him will not be easy, as old sentiments still prevail where people making a living in a new, industrial England are looked down on and someone like Adam, giving up his army career is thought foolish.

In the remote Devon village of Shallowford, Paul Craddock must try to rebuild the estate after the loss of young men during the First World War and, with more difficulty, the bonds broken between the people who belong there. His second bit of fortune is his meeting with a station master who tells him the opportunity is in transporting goods where rails can't go.Adam Swann is a very interesting and smart character and his aims to build his own place in the world are a kind of microcosm of how industry and entrepreneurism changed the world in the mid-1800s.

If you have an interest in British history, this book will be particularly interesting with its picture of bustling London, the railroads, the smog-covered Lancashire and the still green countryside. They are not notably interest ing or likable people; but they are real, and Adam in par ticular seems just the sort of self‐confident, intelligent gam bler who, no doubt, created many of the business empires of the last century. What helps set great historical fiction apart from the average is the little details of everyday life and, probably the most important aspect, credible dialogue. Surprised by how much of the book continues to be relevant to contemporary Britain and am glad I only read this one year into my London residency.I had at first set myself a goal of reading 50 pages each day, but by page 200 I knew I couldn’t go that slowly.

We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there is something for every literary palate. The old Colonel could not have said when or why the premonition touched him, causing a small, inward shudder.All these and many other matters are part of the story of Adam Swann, a young veteran of the Crimean War and of the Sepoy Mutiny in India, who re turned to England with a nice piece of loot, a necklace of pigeon‐blood rubies which he used to finance his business career. The notion of an established church or credo representing the nation at prayer stretches back through history and lingers on, to almost everyone's dissatisfaction, in the current Church of England.

His struggle to succeed and his conquest of Henrietta, the spirited daughter of a rich manufacturer, drive a richly woven tale that takes the reader from the dusty plains of India to the teeming slums of nineteenth-century London, from the chaos of the great industrial cities of the age to the peaceful certainties of the English countryside. I thought their wedding night was very well written: Henrietta naive but determined, and both of them pleasantly surprised. Adam agreed thinking that if Henrietta was more comfortable at home, she wouldn't mind his absences as much.

Adam Swann, a 31-year-old cavalryman in the service of Queen Victoria’s army, decides to break off with his family’s military tradition and gives up his soldierly life in lieu of starting anew in England as a businessman. It is cut from the same bolt, a long, leisurely, rambling tale about many characters told from the point of view of many characters. The next two years found Adam struggling to keep the business profitable while the war continued in the states. Paul and Claire Craddock have grown older in years - but not in spirit, but changes are taking place in the countryside. Unfortunately, the author has chosen to bog the reader down in a lot of relationshippy observation vis-a vis Edith and what's 'is name and Henrietta and our hurtin' hero.