Video interview with Robert Harris on Act of Oblivion and the history of the year 1660

We start our sixth season with Robert Harris, one of Britain's great contemporary novelists. He takes us back to a tremendously important year in English (and world) history. 1660.
In England the mid seventeenth century was a dramatic and bloody time. It was a age when important questions about the nature of power were posed and the traditions of monarchy were challenged. In 1649 this led to the execution of King Charles I on a cold January day in Whitehall. Almost a century and a half before the French removed Louis XVI, England pioneered a new form of republican society.
This was not destined to last. Oliver Cromwell’s death in September 1658 left the country with a power vacuum. After various alternatives were tested, the decision was finally taken to invite the dead king’s eldest surviving son, Charles, back from Europe to regain the throne for the Stuart family.
Charles II’s entry into London on his birthday, 29 May 1660, was a emotional occasion. But for all the excitement and all the glamour of the year John Evelyn called an ‘Annus Miribilis’, some knotty questions remained. One of the greatest of these was what should be done with the surviving ‘regicides’ - the scores of people who had signed the death warrant of the new king’s father.
This history forms the background to Robert Harris’s exhilarating new novel. In Act of Oblivion he tells the story of a transatlantic manhunt for two of the regicides: the colonels Edward Whalley and William Goffe.
Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris is available now.
Show notes
Scene One: 29 May 1660. Charles II returns to London after being exiled and is proclaimed lawful monarch.
Scene Two: 29 August 1660. The Act of Oblivion is passed in Parliament.
Scene Three: 27 July 1660. Colonels Edward Whalley and William Goffe, two regicides, arrive in Boston
Memento: Charles I’s death warrant
People/Social
Presenter: Peter Moore
Guest: Robert Harris
Production: Maria Nolan
Podcast partner: Ace Cultural Tours
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[@fryuppe]

What a great privilege and delight to watch this interview with Robert Harris. Who better to chronicle this extraordinary period in history. It is a critical period that deserves a better focus from the generality of the public and commentariat. Archives and documents are imperative, but it is the novelist's skill that breathes colour and life into history and holds our attention. I am much looking forward to reading 'Act of Oblivion'; and many thanks to all the team at Travels Through Time.

[@TravelsThroughTime]

What a generous comment. Many thanks to you for listening! Very pleased that you enjoyed it.

[@SteveLBMK]

The book that Robert Harris refers to which is set in the future and where the Church controls everyday lives, outlawing science and technology, is "The Second Sleep". Very highly recommended - RH clearly enjoyed the creative narrative and subject matter!

[@RobertPaterson]

Thank you for being such an informed interviewer - a rare thing - I am so looking forward to listening to more

[@TravelsThroughTime]

Our pleasure!

[@benjaminx7294]

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐦 😈