The House of Stuart Sequence Series

The Jacobite Uprising of 1745 is one of those parts of British history that we all think we know a little bit about. The romantic story of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and his gallant Highlanders invading England, only to turn back at Derby and subsequently be defeated at Culloden is part of the cultural glue that holds 'Great Britain' together. But what if things had turned out differently? Could the Prince and his Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English supporters have reached London, deposed George II and driven him into exile in Hanover? And how would our history have changed if the House of Stuart had been restored to the British throne in 1745? Presented as a historical text, 'The Year of The Prince' tells the tale of a history which might have been and chronicles a successful Jacobite Uprising with many different consequences for Great Britain. It is the first of five volumes in 'The House of Stuart Sequence'. Future volumes will tell of the ongoing effects of a Stuart Restoration on the history of Great Britain, Europe, the Americas and beyond. The whole series will travel the years from 1745 to 1900 by which time we discover 'A World Turned Upside Down'.

It is January 1st, 1746. The victorious Jacobite armies, led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, are entering London. George II has been forced into exile in Hanover and James Stuart will shortly be crowned as King James III. "The King Shall Have His Own Again" tells the story of a restored Stuart monarchy up to the year 1800 and how history, as we know it, could have changed. From French India to Drumossie Moor, from Australia to the Caribbean, from Yorktown to Malta and across a Europe totally changed by The Stuart Doctrine the world is turned upside down. Slavery, Free Trade and Revolutionary politics all come into focus in very different ways. "The King Shall Have His Own Again" is volume two in "The House of Stuart Sequence"; a six-volume series of alternative history covering the years 1745 to 1900.

1851 – and, as a result of a double Royal suicide, England and France are at war. The chosen battleground is northern Spain – but this is only the first part of Europe to feel the dreadful effects of The General European Wars. Conflict spreads northwards, from Tyneside to Dunkirk and into Belgium and the Netherlands. Denmark is threatened with conquest and, in the east, the Russian Tsar gathers an army of nearly 400,000 men to achieve a long-held desire; to turn the Baltic into a Russian lake. British secret agents, nomadic Sami tribesmen and marauding Cossacks will all play their parts as Europe is plunged into nine years of bloody war. A Stuart King will die and a new Stuart King will face challenges both at home and abroad as Kingdoms fall, new nations are created and the map of northern Europe changes almost completely.

As the nineteenth century opens, Europe is in turmoil. A foreign King sits on the throne of Spain and France is in the midst of revolution. How will the restored House of Stuart deal with the challenges which abound in Europe and the Americas? With slave revolts in the West Indies, a military dictator controlling France and old enemies Austria and Prussia forming an alliance there is much to concern Great Britain and British North America. Scottish troops find themselves fighting in North Africa and in Mexico: the French Foreign Legion is caught in a desperate siege in India and the Spanish Empire in South America collapses as a new Royal House takes the throne of Spain. As the first fifty years of the new century unfold, nationalism and the quest for democracy become major political forces. There is armed revolt in both Wales and Scotland and by 1850 the House of Stuart faces European enemies on two fronts. This is volume three of the House of Stuart Sequence. Volume one (The Year of The Prince) tells the story of the successful 1745 Jacobite Uprising and volume two (The King Shall Have His Own Again) follows the Stuart monarchy through the turbulent last half of the eighteenth century.

By 1861, the General European Wars have ended and the map of the whole continent has been substantially re-drawn. For the restored Stuart dynasty, the hoped-for peace will not, however, happen. Over the next ten years, Great Britain will face riots and attempted revolution with parliamentary reform being the only possible remedy. And British North America will face the prospect of Civil War between East and West. Karl Marx, Brigham Young, Benjamin Disraeli, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, Jefferson Davies, Lord Lucan, George Armstrong Custer, Feargus O'Connor and Louis Nolan will all play their parts in this, the fifth volume of "The House of Stuart Sequence".

As the twentieth century approaches, politics and extreme weather have combined to turn the world upside down and the changes are still happening. Germany is gone; Central and Western Europe now try to adjust to new realities. A series of natural disasters sweep across the Stuart realms and an American millionaire's tendency to seasickness changes the shape of international trade for ever. Trying to kill the monarch becomes an international obsession whilst a British politician's off-the-cuff remark results in a major political quarrel between Great Britain and The United States of British North America. As Africa falls more and more under British control, the formerly closed kingdoms of the Far East have to come to terms with new and pervasive western influences. The action is panoramic, extending across countries and continents. From Dundee and Glenfinnan to the Pacific, from Pennsylvania and Penang to Timbuktu and from Brazil and Suez to Peking, this ambitious sixth volume of the popular "House of Stuart Sequence" takes us on a journey through a world which might have been.

For reasons of political expediency, United Whigs and Tories Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, has persuaded Queen Victoria to accept the title of Queen-Empress of the Stuart realms. Whilst the great and good assemble at Glenfinnan for the ceremony, vast numbers of Russian troops are on the move. Denmark is attacked; Russian forces capture Norway and the Belgian provinces of the Republic of The Netherlands. As the frontiers of France are threatened, Sweden falls to the Russians without a shot being fired and the Baltic becomes practically a Russian lake. The Russian onslaught is not confined to Europe. Her troops invade Afghanistan and, as Nipponese troops land at Shanghai, Russian armies occupy the north of China. New and terrible weapons make their first appearance; Paris suffers aerial bombardment and is placed under siege. Armoured fleets clash in the Aegean Sea and a mighty battleship is sunk by submarine attack. Massed armies cross and re-cross northern France, turning it into a muddy mass graveyard. A global pandemic erupts; the disease will kill millions from the Outer Hebrides to the islands of the Pacific. Amid political dissent at home and an expansion of conflict into the Balkans, the House of Stuart faces its greatest challenge yet; can peace be restored to a world which has fallen into a state of unending war?

The Great War has been raging for eighteen years.  In celebration of Christmas, Tsar Nicholas II attends the theatre in St. Petersburg but he is not to survive the evening. His successors determine that taking part in the peace talks which Pope Benedict has mooted may well be to Russia's advantage. After deliberate delays, they travel to Rheinfelden to meet with British Prime Minister Bonar Law, French President Georges Clemenceau and American Prime Minister Woodrow Wilson. Representing Russia, both Alexander Kerensky and Leon Bronstein make demands which are not acceptable to the Entente powers and the talks break up. A resumption of war now seems inevitable and, in an attempt to open up a second front against the Russians outside Europe, Bonar Law sets diplomatic and military matters in motion. T E Lawrence is sent to Kashmir to set the East ablaze, diplomat John Buchan is sent on an international journey to secure a new ally and to re-invigorate American participation in the Great War. Former American Prime Minister Theodore Roosevelt returns to power in what some term a coup d'état. Subsequently, the Russians come under attack in Uzbekistan, China and Siberia and suffer humiliating losses. The Western Front will once again, however, become the major area of conflict; British troops on the Somme make progress but only at horrendous cost and Denmark faces new and terrifying weapons as it struggles to halt the Russian steamroller. Who will emerge triumphant 'when the battle's lost and won'?