The year is 1816 and Reuben Tankard, mill owner and magistrate in the Lancashire cotton town of Penkley, is faced with no markets for his goods, a shut mill and an angry workforce. Winter sets in and hunger stalks the streets, closely attended by starvation and... rebellion. But the Tories have set in place Combination Laws to throttle insurrection at source - with the noose. A Penkley man is arrested for sedition and Tankard`s young nephew, Jeremy Blatchford, disappears - supposedly murdered. Who will pay for his death? Travelling players, agents provocateurs, spies from London and desperate millhands make up a splendid array of characters in this humorous but sharply drawn tale of political intrigue and industrial mayhem. Set in the run-up to the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, Alan Watts` dramatic novel has a broad appeal, with the ring of truth in its plot, and historical accuracy in the fine detail. Altogether it`s an excellent piece of work. Alan S Watts, a retired civil servant, having written many articles and short stories became a regular author of careers books. As President of the Worldwide Dickens Fellowship he visited many overseas fellowship branches giving lectures, published a number of books on Charles Dickens and contributed to various periodicals.