History tells us that ‘The Black Box’ actually existed. It contained the forged papers written by Robert Ferguson of the alleged marriage of King Charles II to his lover Lucy Walters and that James Duke of Monmouth was the rightful heir to the throne of England. Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis in June of 1685 and tried in vain to organise an army of French and Dutch troops to first take the City of Bath and from there to march on London hoping to oust King James II. But James II had made arrangements with King Louise XIV not to send troops! Monmouth was left with a depleted army of peasants armed mostly with pitchforks. His army such as it was was surrounded at Sedgemoor and thoroughly beaten. Michael Fane served under Colonel Percy Kirke ‘The Butcher of Sedgemoor’ and the new book ‘The Black Box’ by William Cook tells of his adventures and near death at the hands of Judge Jeffreys at the ‘Bloody Assize’. It goes on to include how Daniel Defoe and he join forces with Peter Blood (So brilliantly played by Errol Flynn in ‘Captain Blood’) and how they escape to The Hague and join William the Prince of Orange to form a new army to defeat James II.

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