Rideal closely unpicks the events following the burning of the London the plague’s journey into London and its spread across the city and the suburbs throughout 1665, the on-going naval warfare taking place between the Dutch and the English, and ultimately ending with the fire’s destruction of the City of London in September 1666. The novel is a departure from previous works that have focused solely on the Great Fire instead it draws together a series of events between 16 to emphasise how the events impacted on each other. Having completed both an undergraduate and postgraduate degree in history, she pursued a career in TV production before returning to study for her PhD, during which time she wrote 1666 which, in her own words, came about as a means of procrastinating from her doctorate.

The book is Rideal’s first novel published in August 2016, it was released just weeks before the 350 th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. It is with this key event that Rebecca Rideal begins her novel 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire, an event, that as she points out, set in motion eighteen months of misery as plague, war, and fire ravaged London and its citizens. The ship was meant to join the fleet as part of preparations for the looming war with the Dutch that dominated foreign policy in 1665, and the ship’s destruction was a financial set back for the war effort. However on the way, gunpowder in the ship’s magazine sparked, causing a massive explosion and killing all but a small number on board. On 7 th March 1665, the London began the short journey from Chatham up the River Thames to near Tilbury to join the royal fleet.

Rebecca rideal 1666