Shop with your exclusive business pricing
Kindle Unlimited
Unlimited reading. Over 4 million titles. Learn more
Read for Free
OR
$3.79

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC.
Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

M J Logue
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

A Wilderness of Sin (An Uncivil War Book 3) Kindle Edition

by M. J. Logue (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
June 1645.
After their rout at the battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire, King Charles' forces are in disarray, their last hope the loyal hardcore in the West of England.
Colonel Hollie Babbitt, following the Army of Parliament westwards, has a degree of sympathy for His Majesty. His own troop of rebels, Anabaptists and horse thieves is in almost perpetual disarray....

But with the creation of the New Model Army, Hollie is being forced to make his own last stand, as a spokesman against this new inflexible regime. And of the two men who've been at his back since the beginning of the wars, the volatile Russell is invalided out after a mysterious incident at Naseby, recuperating under the watchful eye of the mending-est lady in Essex. And Luce is much occupied with his own budding friendship with enigmatic Trooper Gray, and a future after the war that doesn't involve killing.

Love, in both likely and unlikely places. Death. Bubonic plague. An epic poem about the battle of Marston Moor. Blood, fire, politics, intrigue, and ember tart.

It'll all end in tears.... possibly.
Read more
Previous slide of product details
  1. Print length
    393 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 2015
  5. File size
    2.5 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
Next slide of product details

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Writer, mad cake lady, re-enactor, historian. Been slightly potty about the clankier side of Ironside for around 20 years, and lists amongst my heroes in this unworthy world Sir Thomas Fairfax, Elizabeth Cromwell and John Webster (for his sense of humour.) When not purveying historically-accurate cake to various re-enactment groups across the country, M.J. Logue can usually be discovered practising in her garden with a cavalry backsword.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00UE1BHFC
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rosemary Tree Press
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2.5 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 393 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
M J Logue

M J Logue

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Writer, mad cake lady, re-enactor, historian.

Been slightly potty about the clankier side of Ironside for around 20 years, and lists amongst my heroes in this unworthy world Sir Thomas Fairfax, Elizabeth Cromwell and John Webster (for his sense of humour.)

When not purveying historically-accurate cake to various re-enactment groups across the country, M.J. Logue can usually be discovered practising in her garden with a cavalry backsword.

Often to be found loitering, in an ill-tempered manner, at A Sweet Disorder ((www.asweetdisorder.com) - dp along and pass unhelpful remarks!

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
66 global ratings

Review this product

Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top reviews from the United States

  • Paul Bennett
    5.0 out of 5 stars lovely story telling
    Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Let me start out this review by stating that I absolutely loved the first two books in the series and wondered if the author would continue to elicit my love in book number 3. It is the opinion of this humble, yet somewhat revered scribbler of reviews, that M.J. Logue has risen above the rather high expectations I had for Wilderness of Sin. This is a war story that, while it does provide excellent accounts of the battles and sieges, is more in the way of a delving into what makes people tick kind of a story. The author has given us wonderfully drawn characters, Hollie and the others who have been around from the beginning of the war are changing. Some are maturing, such as Thankful and Luce, some are more hardened, Fairfax, and some are relinquishing their irascible exterior, Hollie. Regardless of the changes, the character development is what makes this book sing. I think the best chapter in the book has nothing to do with the war, in fact it takes place in Het's garden as Thankful or Hapless or Apple, as he is called by a precocious toddler, and the self same toddler engage in eating bugs. It is a chapter I would loved to have written myself. :-) 5 stars without a doubt.
    3 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • A J Matthews
    5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully rendered historical fiction.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Novels set in the English Civil War period aren't common, and A Wilderness of Sin is an uncommonly well-written book. The characters of Holly Babbitt, Thankful Russell et al are beautifully rendered. Suspenseful, dark in places and occasionally funny and never without hope, Wilderness of Sin is recommended for any lover of history.
    2 people found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • Anna B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Heart and guts in the midst of war
    Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015
    Format: Kindle
    This is the third book in the aptly named series “An uncivil war”, and yet again Ms Logue transports the reader back to an England that is torn apart between Royalist and Parliamentarian troops. It is bloody and muddy, there is death and gore, pestilence and tragedy – but side by side with this there is love and charity, hope and joy, albeit like small nuggets of gold in an otherwise dark description of a war fought for principles but in which most principles somehow got lost.

    Hollie Babbitt is a wonderful protagonist. A man who initially sold his sword to the highest bidder in the English conflict, he is also possessed of a strong sense of right and wrong, a man capable of compassion towards the so called Malignants, seeing little difference between himself and the people he is supposed to hate. Having had the word of God literally beaten into him as a child, he can quote Scripture with the best, but in difference to some of the more straitlaced among his companions he does not necessarily take bible verses as being God’s truth – however much of a contradiction that is.

    Hollie is surrounded by a colourful supporting cast, their common denominator being that they are like most of us, more interested in surviving to live a life than in dying for a cause they no longer are quite as enthused by. The New Model Army is growing increasingly intolerant, and those Parliamentarians that disagree with some of the harsher measures find themselves ostracized or threatened into obedience. Historical figures such as Tom Fairfax and Noll Cromwell pop up, Prince Rupert is subjected to a gloriously amusing character assassination, but it is Hollie’s band of companions that carry the story forward – war as perceived by those who fought and died in it.

    Other than fighting men, this book has its fair share of women and children, of horses that go by names such as Blossom and Pig. We have an absolutely wonderful sequence involving a kitten (and how Hollie misses his little companion once Fairfax has decided to confiscate it), there is the vibrant little Thomazine, all of two and already firmly in control of the men in her life, and then there is Het, Hollie’s beloved wife who has a heart the size of an oil-tanker – fortunately, given the number of people who queue up for a place in it.

    Ms Logue has a very distinctive style, a tongue-in-cheek approach to some of her descriptions that have me laughing out loud. She also makes me cry – and think. At times, the text could have done with a better editing (in particular by adding some more speech tags) but all in all this is a delightful – if at times emotionally difficult – read, with characters that spring to life with their feet firmly rooted in the mire of that most uncivil of wars, The English Civil War.
    One person found this helpful
    Helpful
     Report
  • James Kemp
    5.0 out of 5 stars Featuring birth, marriage, death, love, tragedy, pestilence and war! The best so far in the series.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015
    Format: Kindle
    Two years have passed since Command the Raven. Hollie Babbitt is now a Colonel of Horse in the New Model Army and a father. A Wilderness of Sin picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Naseby. Thankful Russell has been blinded by a shot to the head and Luce Pettitt is in love.

    As with the previous two in the series these are social histories. A Wilderness of Sin features birth, marriage and death as well as love and tragedy. Pestilence is more of a danger than war, but the politics of the army are a clear danger for Babbitt.

    The depth of the author’s research is clear in A Wilderness of Sin. We have a thread with Babbitt and the army, with the changes since the new model army becoming clear. There is a thread of professionalism in the soldiering, but also of bureaucracy and a stifling of dissent. The earlier freedoms are being lost, and the pay is late. For those that know their history there are many teasers in A Wilderness of Sin, especially with Colonel Rainsborough and the army politics.

    As you would expect from the title religion and sin feature in A Wilderness of Sin too. The anabaptist leanings of Hollie’s troops becomes stronger, despite the lay preaching from the ranks being banned by the army. Sin too, Luce Pettitt is in love with Trooper Gray, and people are starting to notice. In part this is what lead to Hapless Russell’s head wound at the hands of Captain Chedglow.

    Russell is taken to live with Het at White Notley for his recovery. This allows us to see a lot more of the social civilian side of things in A Wilderness of Sin than we saw earlier. There’s a constant thread through the book on how Russell, Het and the others in White Notley are doing. We learn a little of social mores, courtship and child rearing as well as about Russell and Het.

    Overall this is the best yet in the series, if you have any interest in social history, the english civil wars or just like a good story then you should go read all of these.
    Helpful
     Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • James Kemp
    5.0 out of 5 stars Featuring birth, marriage, death, love, tragedy, pestilence and war. The best yet in the series.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 10, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Two years have passed since Command the Raven. Hollie Babbitt is now a Colonel of Horse in the New Model Army and a father. A Wilderness of Sin picks up in the aftermath of the Battle of Naseby. Thankful Russell has been blinded by a shot to the head and Luce Pettitt is in love.

    As with the previous two in the series these are social histories. A Wilderness of Sin features birth, marriage and death as well as love and tragedy. Pestilence is more of a danger than war, but the politics of the army are a clear danger for Babbitt.

    The depth of the author’s research is clear in A Wilderness of Sin. We have a thread with Babbitt and the army, with the changes since the new model army becoming clear. There is a thread of professionalism in the soldiering, but also of bureaucracy and a stifling of dissent. The earlier freedoms are being lost, and the pay is late. For those that know their history there are many teasers in A Wilderness of Sin, especially with Colonel Rainsborough and the army politics.

    As you would expect from the title religion and sin feature in A Wilderness of Sin too. The anabaptist leanings of Hollie’s troops becomes stronger, despite the lay preaching from the ranks being banned by the army. Sin too, Luce Pettitt is in love with Trooper Gray, and people are starting to notice. In part this is what lead to Hapless Russell’s head wound at the hands of Captain Chedglow.

    Russell is taken to live with Het at White Notley for his recovery. This allows us to see a lot more of the social civilian side of things in A Wilderness of Sin than we saw earlier. There’s a constant thread through the book on how Russell, Het and the others in White Notley are doing. We learn a little of social mores, courtship and child rearing as well as about Russell and Het.

    Overall this is the best yet in the series, if you have any interest in social history, the english civil wars or just like a good story then you should go read all of these.
    Report
  • David Wilson
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Wilderness of Sin is the author’s best book yet
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    A Wilderness of Sin is chronologically the fifth in MJ Logue’s “An Uncivil War” series of novels featuring Colonel Hollie Babbitt and his troop of parliamentary soldiers during the English Civil War. For personal reasons Logue published A Wilderness of Sin out of sequence (at the time of writing this review books 3 and 4 were still to be published), but as Logue herself says in the pre-amble, “you’ve missed nowt.”
    At first sight you might be forgiven for thinking that Logue’s books are similar in style to those of Michael Arnold, but as you read them, you realise that her novels are less concerned with the historical course of the military campaigns or with the blood and guts of warfare, than with human interaction at times of crisis, and the description of relationships is something which Logue does particularly well.
    A Wilderness of Sin is the author’s best book yet, and as the series develops, the depth of her characterisations have grown accordingly. Here the main story revolves around three key relationships – the shared experience of Babbitt’s junior officer Luce Pettit and the diminutive trooper Gray (I will not expand on this here for fear of ruining the story), the interaction between the convalescing Thankful Russell, Babbitt’s wife Het and Babbitt’s two year old daughter Thomazine, and the love-hate relationship between Babbitt himself and his preacher father Elijah.
    I found the description of the relationship between Russell as he slowly regains his sight and Thomazine to be particularly poignant.
    Logue never lets you forget the fragility of life under conditions of war, but the underlying message of her story lines is that, even at times when human beings are being stretched to the limits of their endurance, the underlying goodness of humanity will always shine through – and that’s what makes A Wilderness of Sin such an uplifting read.
    Report
  • Amazon Customer sarah
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great fun
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    A fun series which I read in a few days, only marred by a number of editing errors. However, a great story told from an unusual point of view and told it well.
    Report
  • Francine Howarth
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Stunning & Heart-rending story.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2015
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    And here I am once again saluting Colonel Hollie Babbitt, a stubborn rebellious individual, who for all his rough-tongued knight in tarnished armour coarseness, has a heart that leaves him utterly vulnerable when least expected. It is now 1645 and the English Civil War is still raging, and while the Battle of Naseby is at end, Hollie Babbitt pays witness to the carnage on both sides of the divide. The sheer horror of it all is playing havoc with his conscience, and having already fought in skirmishes and battles aplenty, Naseby has dented Hollie Babbitt's protective shield like never before, a shield he has relied upon to hide inner feelings from others.

    Subsequently, when emotions are running high, it takes but one thoughtless word or impending action to tip the balance of reasoned thought. Hollie, no longer in the prime of youth, is almost glad when war moves on, until a siege situation is under way. The final burning of a city brings a long-standing nightmare back with a vengeance, and suddenly Hollie's old life is intertwined with the present, and his faith in himself is tested beyond measure of mere duty and allegiance to the Parliamentary cause. The base line being, can Hollie Babbitt survive the battle from within?

    All in all, this book tugs at reader heartstrings, because when characters go missing, they leave a great hole in the reader's heart, and because of that, Hollie's plight is all the more real too.
    Report
  • Evelyn Tidman - historical fiction author
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant - not your run-of-the-mill story of war.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Well, just finished the third in M J Logue's series about Hollie Babbit, and it certainly lived up to my expectations. And more. Now a colonel in Fairfax's army, Hollie, and Luce, fresh out of Marston Moor, with hardly a moment to recover are off again in the war against the King. I love the way the author gets us into their heads, feeling what they feel, seeing the action through their eyes. Laugh-out-loud dialogue and descriptions at times, deep pathos at others which brought tears to my eyes. Unexpected events, and, dare I say it, people. This is not your run-of-the mill story of war. You are there, feeling the pain, the agony, the unexpected hilarity, the despair. Hollie Babbit is alive and three-dimensional. As if he were standing in my living room. And Luce, too. And Hapless. And Grey, and - well all of them.

    I absolutely loved it, and I heartily recommend it. It deserved every one of the five stars, and more if I could give it.
    Report

Report an issue


Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report