#BookReview #Ad The Drums of War by Michael Ward

About the Book

London 1642. The King has fled London with the drums of war ringing in his ears. Across the country, lines are being drawn and armies raised.

Influential royalist Lady Carlisle switches sides and presses spice trader Thomas Tallant and his partner Elizabeth Seymour into Parliament’s service.

Soon Thomas faces double-dealing in his hunt for a lethal hoard of gunpowder hidden on the river, while Elizabeth engages in a race against time to locate a hidden sniper picking off Parliamentary officers at will in the city.

The capital also witnesses a vicious gang of jewel thieves take advantage of the city’s chaos to go on the rampage, smashing homes and shops, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. They hand pick their targets but refrain from selling any of their loot. There are more questions than answers.

When war finally erupts, Elizabeth is caught in the brutalising carnage of Edgehill while Thomas joins the Trained Bands in their defence of the city. As he mans the barricades at Brentford, in a desperate rearguard action to repel Prince Rupert’s surprise attack, he realises the future of London rests in the hands of him and a few hundred troopers.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth believes she has identified the jewel thief and goes underground to trace his hoard. But all is not as it seems.

Format: ebook (227 pages)                  Publisher: Sharpe Books
Publication date: 18th August 2022 Genre: Historical Fiction

Find The Drums of War (Thomas Tallant #3) on Goodreads

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My Review

The Drums of War is the third book in the author’s Thomas Tallant series, the sequel to Rags of Time and The Wrecking Storm. Links from the titles will take you to my reviews. The Drums of War can definitely be read as a standalone although I would recommend reading the series from the beginning for maximum enjoyment.

Once again the author has created an exciting combination of mystery and adventure built around actual historical events and featuring real historical figures, including the prominent Parliamentarian John Pym, pioneering physician William Harvey and the calculating Lucy, Countess of Carlisle.

I was delighted to see the return of the pipe-smoking Elizabeth Seymour, and playing a key role in the story too. Elizabeth prides herself on her logic and her knowledge of science, medicine and mathematics. Indeed the latter enables a breakthrough in the hunt for a sniper who has been targeting officers of the Trained Bands, the militia in charge of the defence of the City of London from the forces of the King. But Elizabeth’s confidence in her abilities is challenged when she finds herself at the Battle at Edge Hill, overwhelmed by the scale of the carnage and her inability to help the injured and dying.  ‘My God, it was Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell – the cries and shouts of desperate men, punctuated by booming cannon and the crackle of musket fire, in a fog of choking, gunpowder smoke.’  She also witnesses, in one particularly moving scene, the truth of what Thomas warned civil war would bring at the close of the previous book: ‘Father against son. Husband against wife. Brother against brother.’ 

Meanwhile Thomas finds himself thrust into the centre of the action as well and relying on some quick-witted companions and some lucky breaks to escape unscathed from the heat of battle.  

Alongside recounting Thomas’s and Elizabeth’s adventures (which on this occasion take place largely separately), the author introduces a mysterious, unnamed narrator with a connection to one of the secondary plot lines. But just what this person’s motive is remains unclear, as does their connection with an old adversary of the Tallant family. The book ends with a teaser that I hope suggests there are more adventures to come for Thomas and Elizabeth.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Drums of War with its intricate plot, fascinating historical detail and engaging leading characters. 

My thanks to the author for my digital review copy. You can find out more about ‘the life and times of Thomas Tallant’ on the author’s website.  

In three words: Intriguing, entertaining, eventful 

Try something similar: The Drowned City by K. J. Maitland 

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About the Author

Mike Ward is an English creator of historical fiction. Born in Liverpool, he was a BBC journalist and journalism academic before turning to non-factual writing.

His debut novel The Rags of Time is located in London in 1639. It marks the start of a tumultuous 30 years – civil war, regicide, republic and royal restoration. Politics, religion, commerce, science, and medicine – none are left untouched by this ferment of change.

Mike believes it’s the perfect setting for his hero Thomas Tallant’s series of adventures, starting with Rags of Time and followed by The Wrecking Storm and The Drums of War.

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