{"product_id":"imperial-mud-the-fight-for-the-fens-hardcover","title":"Imperial Mud: The Fight for the Fens - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJames Boyce\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e**WINNER OF THE HISTORY AND TRADITION CATEGORY, EAST ANGLIAN BOOK AWARDS 2020** \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e**LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2021**  \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A real page-turner ... a warning about what happens when the rich and powerful dress up their avarice as \"progress\" - a lesson we could do with learning today.' Dixe Wills, \u003ci\u003eBBC Countryfile\u003c\/i\u003e magazine\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e FROM A MULTI-AWARD-WINNING HISTORIAN, AN ARRESTING NEW HISTORY OF THE BATTLE FOR THE FENS. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBetween the English Civil Wars and the mid-Victorian period, the proud indigenous population of the Fens of eastern England fought to preserve their homeland against an expanding empire. After centuries of resistance, their culture and community were destroyed, along with their wetland home - England's last lowland wilderness. But this was no simple triumph of technology over nature - it was the consequence of a newly centralised and militarised state, which enriched the few while impoverishing the many. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this colourful and evocative history, James Boyce brings to life not only colonial masters such as Oliver Cromwell and the Dukes of Bedford but also the defiant 'Fennish' themselves and their dangerous and often bloody resistance to the enclosing landowners. We learn of the eels so plentiful they became a kind of medieval currency; the games of 'Fen football' that were often a cover for sabotage of the drainage works; and the destruction of a bountiful ecosystem that had sustained the Fennish for thousands of years and which meant that they did not have to submit in order to survive. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMasterfully argued and imbued with a keen sense of place, Imperial Mud reimagines not just the history of the Fens, but the history and identity of the English people.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames Boyce\u003c\/b\u003e is a multi-award-winning Australian historian. His first book, \u003ci\u003eVan Diemen's Land\u003c\/i\u003e, was described by Richard Flanagan as 'the most significant colonial history since \u003ci\u003eThe Fatal Shore\u003c\/i\u003e'. \u003ci\u003e1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia\u003c\/i\u003e was \u003ci\u003eThe Age\u003c\/i\u003e's Book of the Year, while \u003ci\u003eBorn Bad: Original Sin and the Making of the Western World\u003c\/i\u003e was hailed by\u003ci\u003e The Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e as 'an exhilarating work of popular scholarship'.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.1 x 8 x 4.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 02, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48338981093625,"sku":"9781785786501","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/16LFvAEfBf9781785786501.webp?v=1777611253","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/imperial-mud-the-fight-for-the-fens-hardcover","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}