God’s Vindictive Wrath is the first novel in the English Civil War historical fiction series Divided Kingdom by Charles Cordell. It opens at the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642 and ends three weeks later at the Battle of Turnham Green on the edge of London. The action moves between Edgehill, Oxford, London, the Battle of Aylesbury, the Battle of Brentford and Turnham Green.
The story is told by a series of characters including the half-brothers Ralph and Francis Reeve, Birmingham iron worker and leveller Anthony Sedley, Derbyshire lead miner Robbie Needham, Welsh hill farmer Hywel Lloyd, Oxford graduate and junior official at court George Merrett, and abandoned London merchant's wife Thomasine Bennett.
“Stirring. A great read! You can almost hear the roar of cannon and the thunder of hooves. Do not miss this evocative account of the start of the English Civil War, and the ordinary men caught up in it.” - **Ben Kane, *Sunday Times* bestselling author, *The Forgotten Legion* and *Lionheart***
“Fast-paced and authentic. With characters that are colourful and believable. There are not enough tales like this.” - **Michael Arnold, author of the *Civil War Chronicles* and *Highwayman* series**
“An exciting minute-by-minute story of the English Civil War… from the soldier’s point of view… the historical accuracy is fantastic… the storyline and writing style tremendously exciting.” - ***Historical Novels Review***
"Like *Game of Thrones* without the dragons." - **Julian Humphrys, interview at Chiswick Book Festival**
"'Visceral' historical fiction." - ***The Bookseller***
"VIVID!... You can smell it.... Original, interesting, entertaining, thought-provoking - an excellent read." - **Dr Beth Rogers FCIM PhD PFHEA, Chair of the John Hampden Society, *The Patriot***
"Of all the many novels set in the English Civil War that I have read, this was the one that described most perfectly the experience of battle." - **Prof Ronald Hutton CBE FRHistS FSA FLSW FBA, TV historian and author of *The Royalist War Effort 1642-1646*, *The Making of Oliver Cromwell* and *Cromwell: Commander in Chief***
“A fast-paced read that brilliantly captures the fear, confusion and luck of battle.” - **General Richard Nugee CB, CVO, CBE**
