Cynthia Harrod-Eagles – författare

Makt och anseende är vad den dominerande och hårdnackade fårfarmaren Edward Morland eftersträvar mest av allt. Därför gifter han bort sin ende son i ett arrangerat äktenskap som kommer att bli upprinnelsen till Ätten Morland.

Sonen Robert idealiserar sin nya brud Eleanor, som är fattig men av förnäm börd och står under förmyndarskap av den inflytelserika familjen Beaufort. Men i hemlighet förtärs hon av en brinnande kärlek till Richard, hertigen av York …

Mot bakgrunden av de oroliga åren i 1400-talets mitt, när inbördeskriget Rosornas krig utkämpas i England, utvecklar sig denna passionerade saga om krig och våldsamma begär.

Begynnelsen är den första delen i brittiska Cytnhia Harrod-Eagles ”Morland-dynasti”, som hittills har fått 36 delar. Serien översattes till svenska på 80-talet, men finns nu äntligen tillgänglig igen, och passar perfekt till alla som älskade Sagan om isfolket.

A fatherless girl grows up a virtual prisoner in the shabby backwater of Kensington Palace, despised by her relations, bullied and insulted by her foolish mother''s evil genius. Only the core of stubbornness in her nature sustains her as she waits for the day of deliverance - the day she will become Queen of England.She is Victoria; this is her story, recorded in her own words in the last troubled year of her life.With humanity and humour the Queen Empress of half the world looks back over eighty crowded years, remembering domestic crisis and public triumph, war, revolution and the fall of dynasties; remembering most of all the great and abiding love that illuminated every aspect of her life.This is the autobiography Queen Victoria might have written, and reveals the private woman behind the public mask - quick tempered, proud and incurably honest; shy, vulnerable and always, indefatigably, amused.

1919. As the euphoria of the Armistice fades, the nation counts the cost: millions dead or disabled, unemployment, strikes and shortages. As prices and taxes rise, it becomes harder to remember what the war was for.Teddy tries to recreate balance but then a trip to France to see the place where Ned fell has unforeseen consequences; Polly, grieving for Erich Kuppel, persuades her father to send her to New York. Despite Prohibtion, the great city, pulsing with life, promises her a fresh start; Jessie and Bertie, detained in London by Bertie''s job, long to start their new life together; Jack becomes a pioneer of civil aviation, but when the company fails he''s faced with unemployment, with a growing family to support.The generation that saw things no man should see must find relief from their own memories. A new world is struggling to be born out of the ashes; but as long as the music lasts, they will keep on dancing.

1918: German troops flood back from the Eastern Front for an all-out assault in France, before the Americans can join the war. The under-strength British retreat, and for the first time the real possibility of defeat comes home to a shocked nation. At the front, Bertie struggles to bring his battered battalion out safely, while at home Jessie, secretly carrying his child, knows that sooner or later she must face her family''s censure. At Morland Place, Teddy braves local opinion to bring German POWs to work on the land, little knowing how close to home the consequences of his decision will strike. And the terrible news arrives that Jack has been shot down.Men are falling, each one the King of someone''s heart. For the Morlands, only love, faith and compassion will keep the family safe until the longed-for days of peace . . .

It''s 1917 and the Allies are determined to finally defeat a weakened Germany - everything is building up to the summer''s Big Push. Germany strikes back with U-boat attacks to starve England out, giant aeroplanes to bomb London, and the cunning withdrawal to the Hindenberg Line. Every Briton must do his bit, and the Morlands are involved at every stage: fighting and nursing in France, stoically surviving at home - and finding love where they can along the way.Continuing the great saga of the Morland dynasty, The Foreign Field carries its members into a new set of conflicts and tests their courage to the limit.

"Brilliant, a definite page turner. They combine real historical events with fascinating fictional characters.The twenty-three volumes of the Morland Dynasty series has been completely repackaged in the most elegant style, using contemporaneous artwork for each period. This wonderful series opens with the back drop of the Wars of the Roses with the marriage between Eleanor Morland and a scion of the influential house of Beaufort. It is a union which establishes the powerful Morland dynasty and in the succeeding volumes of this rich tapestry of English life, we follow their fortunes through war and peace, political upheaval and social revolution, times of pestilence and periods of plenty, and through the vicissitudes which afflict every family - love and passion, envy and betrayal, birth and death, great fortune and miserable penury...The Morland Dynasty is entertainment of the most addictive kind.

1501: the turbulence of Henry VIII''s reign brings passion and pain to the Morlands as they achieve ever greater wealth and prestige.Paul, great-grandsom of Elanor Morland, has inherited the Morland estates, and his own Amyas is set to be his heir. But Paul fathers a beloved illigitimate son, and bitter jealousy causes a destructive rift between the two half-brothers which will lead to death. Paul''s niece, Nanette, becomes a maid-in-waiting to Anne Bolyen, and at the court of Henry VIII she becomes embroiled in the King''s bitter feud with Rome.Through birth and death, love and hatred, triumph and heartbreak, the Morlands continue proudly to claim their place amongst England''s aristocracy.

1558: Elizabeth I is on the throne, though still challenged by Mary, and her Protestant faith threatens the Catholic Morland family.The reign of Elizabeth I means that the Morlands must seek new spheres of influence to restore their fortunes. John, heir to Morland Place, rides north to wed the daughter of Black Will Percy, the Borders cattle lord, and learns that the way to win her heart is through blood and battle. His gentle sister, Lettice, has also travelled north to marry the ruthless Scottish baron, Lord Robert Hamilton, and in the treacherous court of Mary, Queen of Scots, she has to learn the bleak and bitter lessons of survival...

1630: after long years of peace the reign of Charles I brings brutal civil war to England.The clash between King and Parliament is echoed at Morland Place when Richard brings home a Puritan bride while his brother, Kit, joins Prince Rupert and the Royalist cavalry, leaving their father Edmund desperately trying to steer a middle course between the fighting factions.As the war grinds on, bitterness and disillusion replace the early fervour, and the schisms between husband and wife, father and son, grow deeper. Edmund struggles grimly through it all in an attempt to keep the Morland fortune intact, but he is thwarted by the estrangement between his sons and then alienated from his beloved wife, Mary.

1659: Cromwell''s protectorate is drawing to a close, and the restoration of the monarchy can only improve the fortunes of the Morland family.The years of civil war and their aftermath have left Morland Place in dire straits, but with the return of the King, Ralph Morland believes he can rebuild the family estates. For his beautiful and ambitious cousin, Annunciata, the Restoration means a journey to London - one that leads to the amours and intrigues of Charles''s court and to the unlocking of her mysterious past.A new and kinder age is dawning - a time for healing wounds - but more uncertainty, conflict and sorrow await both Ralph and Annunciata before they can find peace and forgiveness...