Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Bluemoose Books Ltd (2017), 360 pages
Description
An England divided. From his remote moorland home, David Hartley assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a criminal enterprise that will capsize the economy and become the biggest fraud in British history. They are the Cragg Vale Coiners and their business is 'clipping' - the forging of coins, a treasonous offence punishable by death. A charismatic leader, Hartley cares for the poor and uses violence and intimidation against his opponents. He is also prone to self-delusion and strange visions of mythical creatures. When excise officer William Deighton vows to bring down the Coiners and one of their own becomes turncoat, Hartley's empire begins to crumble. With the industrial age set to change the face of England forever, the fate of his empire is under threat.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Steve38
Good but could have been better. The tale of the Calder Vale Coiners. People who clipped gold coins in order to make r]=forgeries from the shavings. A fictionalised version of a real tale of real people. Mr Myers tells it well. He describes their lives and the surrounding moorland and weaves in an
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element of mysticism and magic. But his wish to stay true to the memories of the people brings in an irksome element of style. Too many long, long lists of names who play no other part than to stand and listen. It distracts from a more common tale of good versus evil in a Robin Hood sort of way. Show Less
LibraryThing member PDCRead
It is a land where those in charge have no interest in you until you threaten their income and power, David Hartley is drawing together the local people to assist him in his master plan, coin clipping. He looks after those in need and is not afraid to crush opponents and as his power grows, he
He listened to the sound of the water and the way it sang over the smoothed rocks of flint and grit. The way it danced down through the woods like a child.
This is the first of Benjamin Myers books that I have read and I first came across him and this book when Robert Macfarlane tweeted the very arresting cover. I had been meaning to read it for ages but my library had not got a copy on the shelf as it was always on loan. Myers has based this tale of rebellion in the West Riding area of Yorkshire on the true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners. He has written a thrilling historical tale with criminals, government men determined to enforce the law and the innocent people caught in the battle to control their way of life as the industrial revolution begins to bite This is a book that is deeply rooted in the landscape of the 1770's and what lifts this above other historical novels is the way he has captured the smells, sights, mud and hardship of just trying to make a living at that time. The prose is a delight to read, poetic, lyrical and visceral, it grips you and drags you into this tale. A brilliant book.
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declares himself King. This fraud on an epic scale has been noted in London and excise men under the command of William Deighton are dispatched to ensure that justice is served and equilibrium is restored. Not everyone is happy in King David's court though, there are some who think that he is too greedy and has not given what they feel they are due. It is through these cracks in Hartley's organisation that Deighton begins to make his move. The power play between the self-proclaimed king and the Crown is set.He listened to the sound of the water and the way it sang over the smoothed rocks of flint and grit. The way it danced down through the woods like a child.
This is the first of Benjamin Myers books that I have read and I first came across him and this book when Robert Macfarlane tweeted the very arresting cover. I had been meaning to read it for ages but my library had not got a copy on the shelf as it was always on loan. Myers has based this tale of rebellion in the West Riding area of Yorkshire on the true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners. He has written a thrilling historical tale with criminals, government men determined to enforce the law and the innocent people caught in the battle to control their way of life as the industrial revolution begins to bite This is a book that is deeply rooted in the landscape of the 1770's and what lifts this above other historical novels is the way he has captured the smells, sights, mud and hardship of just trying to make a living at that time. The prose is a delight to read, poetic, lyrical and visceral, it grips you and drags you into this tale. A brilliant book.
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LibraryThing member edwardsgt
The author shines a new light on an important late 18th century (illegal) economic activity in and around Halifax, Yorkshire.
LibraryThing member AdonisGuilfoyle
I bought this 'local flavour' novel six years ago, on the recommendation of a colleague, found myself constantly put off by the cover, and the download disappeared into the vaults of my Kindle. The same colleague mentioned recently that the book is being made into a TV series by the BBC, and so I
The Cragg Vale Coiners of the Calder Valley in eighteenth century Yorkshire make for an interesting Wikipedia article, and possibly a fuller non-fiction account, but Benjamin Myers is all about the gimmicks, not the content. The aforementioned phonetic 'diary' entries, dialogue without punctuation, page after page of vaguely poetic scene setting, repetition of the coiners' names, which didn't bring them to life or make me care about them at all. The wily, windy moors and hard living of Yorkshire folk is better portrayed in Wuthering Heights, complete with illegible local dialect.
Also, I was fully on the side of poor William Deighton and not 'King' David Hartley and his thick thugs. Hardly Robin Hood, more like the Kray Twins turn Teamsters, threatening reluctant yokels to join their money-spinning scheme. I have to agree with a review on Goodreads that this is a thoroughly blokey book - 'kind of like historical fiction for bearded real ale drinkers'. I think there's one woman in the whole story, Hartley's wife Grace, and when we first meet her, she's heavily pregnant but still being subjected to her wifely duty, bent over the bed while noticing spider webs that she missed while cleaning. Her life doesn't get any better. I know the 'action' is set in the 1760s but I was still depressed with all the macho bullshit.
Not an easy or a pleasant read. Maybe the adaptation will treat the history and the real life characters better.
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unearthed my copy. Honestly, though, after putting this book aside for another and then skipping through the passages in italics - which are not in the Yorkshire dialect, Emily Bronte would be aghast - I wish I hadn't bothered.The Cragg Vale Coiners of the Calder Valley in eighteenth century Yorkshire make for an interesting Wikipedia article, and possibly a fuller non-fiction account, but Benjamin Myers is all about the gimmicks, not the content. The aforementioned phonetic 'diary' entries, dialogue without punctuation, page after page of vaguely poetic scene setting, repetition of the coiners' names, which didn't bring them to life or make me care about them at all. The wily, windy moors and hard living of Yorkshire folk is better portrayed in Wuthering Heights, complete with illegible local dialect.
Also, I was fully on the side of poor William Deighton and not 'King' David Hartley and his thick thugs. Hardly Robin Hood, more like the Kray Twins turn Teamsters, threatening reluctant yokels to join their money-spinning scheme. I have to agree with a review on Goodreads that this is a thoroughly blokey book - 'kind of like historical fiction for bearded real ale drinkers'. I think there's one woman in the whole story, Hartley's wife Grace, and when we first meet her, she's heavily pregnant but still being subjected to her wifely duty, bent over the bed while noticing spider webs that she missed while cleaning. Her life doesn't get any better. I know the 'action' is set in the 1760s but I was still depressed with all the macho bullshit.
Not an easy or a pleasant read. Maybe the adaptation will treat the history and the real life characters better.
Show Less
Awards
The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction (Winner — 2018)
Republic of Consciousness Prize (Longlist — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2017
Physical description
360 p.; 7.76 inches
ISBN
1910422320 / 9781910422328