Ordinary people are swept up in extraordinary historical events in these gripping short stories by the bestselling author of The King’s Spy. History is brought alive by the everyday people whose lives it affects in this moving collection of short fiction. In Beautiful Star & Other Stories we meet Eilmer, a monk in 1010 with Icarus-like dreams; Charles I, in hiding in 1651 and befriended by a small boy; the trial of Jane Wenham, witch of Walkern, seen through the eyes of her granddaughter, among many others. From the author of the Thomas Hill trilogy, this is an affecting journey through the centuries, bringing a new perspective to such events as the defense of Corfe Castle, the battle of Waterloo, the siege of Toulon, and, in the title story, the devastating dangers of the life of the sea in 1875.