The wounds of the brutal civil war are still visible on men’s bodies”: the execution of Charles I in Whitehall, London, 1649. Illustration: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Applied to Acts of Oblivion, the “burning” Act of Oblivion has disappeared in the Anglo-American tradition—we do not expect a federal or state legislature to interfere with our collective memory in this way. Yet the “drowning” Act of Oblivion should give us present pause. As I have briefly offered here, executive gaslighting occurs frequently, and can present a deeper threat because it is more subtle. It will take the stolid mantra-like repetition of the truth—as in Robinson’s article—to overcome the government’s unleashing of the waters of Lethe. Issued just weeks after Meyler’s post, Judge Bolton’s decision adheres to this line of reasoning. 42 Open this footnote Close this footnote 42 See United States v. Arpaio, No. CR-16-01012-001-PHX-SRB, 2017 WL 4839072 (D. Ariz. Oct. 19, 2017). … Open this footnote Close It states: “The power to pardon is an executive prerogative of mercy, not of judicial record-keeping.” 43 Open this footnote Close this footnote 43 Id. at *2 (quoting United States v. Noonan, 906 F.2d 952, 955 (3d Cir. 1990)). … Open this footnote Close To grant the defendant’s request to vacate all rulings in the case, it continues, “would run afoul of this important distinction.” 44 Open this footnote Close this footnote 44 Id. … Open this footnote Close The court concludes: “The pardon undoubtedly spared Defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed. It did not, however, ‘revise the historical facts’ of this case.” 45 Open this footnote Close this footnote 45 Id. (quoting 67A C.J.S. Pardon & Parole § 33 (2019)). … Open this footnote Close The passage of the Indemnity and Oblivion Act through the Convention Parliament was secured by Lord Clarendon, the first minister of King Charles II, and it became law on 29 August 1660 during the first year of the English Restoration. Aug 1660 Pardon and Oblivion, British History On-line House of Commons Journal Volume 8 (www.british-history.ac.uk) There’s a passage in Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate in which the author imagines the parallel lives of a man and his murderer. “If one man is fated to be killed by another,” he writes, “it would be interesting to trace the gradual convergence of their paths. At the start they might be miles away from one another … and yet eventually we are bound to meet, we can’t avoid it…” This is the idea that animates Robert Harris’s latest novel, Act of Oblivion, which, although it is set in the 17th century, sends the reader on a riotously enjoyable and thoroughly modern manhunt that weaves between Restoration-era London and the wilds of pre-revolutionary New England.

Beyond the Book

A lot of the book is a cat and mouse game, as Ned and Will have to scurry from one hiding place to another. Much of their time is spent in wilderness conditions. They also encounter various examples of religious fanaticism. In England, their family does not have an easy time of it since they refuse to give up the location of the two fugitives. They also have to cope with a plague and fire.

Whalley begins as a pious and ruthless military commander. He’s a religious fanatic obsessed, as all Puritans in the novel are, with the idea of a Christian republic of England – a land where God rules supreme. We may, then, appear to honor Acts of Oblivion more in breach than in observance. Yet at least one aspect of the Act of Oblivion—exercised by the Executive Branch alone—presents a live concern. This takes the form of executive gaslighting, which injures the collective memory in a way that is no less effective because it is more insidious than a direct Act of Oblivion. Harris's books are always supremely readable - he has practically trademarked the term 'master storyteller' -- Alex Preston * Observer * Harris doesn’t take sides in his narrative. He explains Puritan and royalist viewpoints accurately and leaves the reader to make their minds up. On the one hand, we have a dysfunctional and morally corrupt monarchy, trying to find its feet in England which had been deprived of a king for a decade. On the other, the radical beliefs of religious purists. You may find your sympathies lie with characters you would never normally align with.

House of Commons Journal Volume 8, 8 June 1660 House of Commons Journal Volume 8, 8 June 1660 The twenty who punishment did not extend to life were added to the list. He has taken a truly extraordinary factual tale and turned it into a fun fictional version, with pace throughout, and a crowd-pleasing finale * The Oldie * The details of the regicides’ journey are historically accurate, Harris assures us, although he is obliged to speculate when it comes to the latter part of the story. History has not provided us with any information about the identity of the duo’s pursuers, so he has invented a splendid character called Richard Nayler, clerk of the Privy Council and general fixer to the aristocracy. Although Nayler loathes the sybaritic Charles II, he hounds Whalley and Goffe so remorselessly as to make Inspector Javert look like a nine-to-fiver.

He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, “They killed the King.” Appointing himself as hunter, Nayler sets his sights on Edward Whalley and William Goffe, going to whatever lengths necessary to see them both on the scaffold.An Irish act by the same name "An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion [for Ireland]" was sent to the Duke of Ormonde on 16 August 1664 by Sir Paul Davys, the Irish Secretary of State. [23] In popular culture [ edit ] August 16th, 1660, British History On-line House of Commons Journal Volume 8 (www.british-history.ac.uk) A gripping thriller and a timely reminder of the dangers of a deeply divided and intolerant society * The Shropshire Magazine * IX. The penalty of any officer, &c. that shall go about to disquiet or trouble any person pardoned by this act. The Indemnity and Oblivion Act fulfilled the suggestion given in the Declaration of Breda that reprisals against the establishment which had developed during the English Interregnum would be restricted to those who had officiated in the regicide of King Charles I.

As the German poet and philosopher Novalis remarked more than two centuries ago, novels arise out of the shortcomings of history. Harris sets out to plug the gaps in the record, and succeeds remarkably well. He’s writing fiction, but he treats the few available facts and the more plausible theories with respect, and skilfully extrapolates from them. May 1660, Pardon and Oblivion, British History On-line House of Commons Journal Volume 8 (www.british-history.ac.uk) An absolutely stunning historical novel and a ripping crime thriller at the same time. I've been recommending it far and wide and buying it for people for Christmas! * Dead Good * The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England ( 12 Cha. 2. c. 11), the long title of which is " An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". [1] This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committed crimes during the English Civil War and subsequent Commonwealth period, with the exception of certain crimes such as murder (without a licence granted by King or Parliament), piracy, buggery, rape and witchcraft, and people named in the act such as those involved in the regicide of Charles I. It also said that no action was to be taken against those involved at any later time, and that the Interregnum was to be legally forgotten. [2] History [ edit ] One of Harris's most compellingly paced to date . . . it is his best since Fatherland * Sunday Times *Every quarry needs a hunter. Harris counterbalances Whalley and Goffe with Richard Nayler, the fictional secretary to the regicide committee of the privy council, who has a powerful personal reason to want them dead. Meanwhile in London, Frances, Goffe’s devoted wife and Whalley’s daughter, provides another viewpoint. The novel’s narrative structure moves to and fro between them, ultimately leading to a brisk if slightly implausible conclusion. Colonel Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Colonel William Goffe, cross the Atlantic. Having been found guilty of high treason for the murder of Charles the I, they are wanted and on the run. A reward hangs over their heads - for their capture, dead or alive. Harris's cleverness, judgment and eye for detail are second to none -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times * Another fantastic piece of historical fiction from Robert Harris, immaculately researched and utterly believable * IPU Review * Interested? Well, we’ve got more books similar to the Act of Oblivion to keep you occupied through term time!