The Forest

EDWARD RUTHERFURD

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781409037071

Published by Arrow Books in 2000

13 15 17 19 20 18 16 14 12

Copyright (c) Edward Rutherfurd 2000

The right of Edward Rutherfurd to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

First published in Great Britain in 2000 by
Century
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London, SW1V 2SA

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780099279075

Contents

Cover

Title

Copyright

Dedication

About the Author

Also by Edward Ruthurfurd

Preface

Acknowledgements

Maps

The Rufus Stone

The Hunt

Beaulieu

Lymington

The Armada Tree

Alice

Albion Park

Pride of the Forest

The Forest

This book is dedicated to the New Forest Museum.
An inspiration and a joy.

THE FOREST

Edward Rutherfurd was born in Salisbury and educated in Wiltshire and Cambridge. He did live in New York, but returned to his roots to research and write his vast, bestselling saga, Sarum, based on the history of Salisbury. Russka, his second novel, tells the sweeping history of Russia from the Cossack horsemen of the steppes to the epic events of the Bolshevik revolution. His third novel, London, is the remarkable story of the greatest city on earth, bringing all the richness of London's past unforgettably to life. In his fourth novel, The Forest, Rutherfurd weaves the history and legends of the New Forest into compelling form. Sarum, Russka, London, The Forest, Dublin, Ireland Awakening and New York are all available in Arrow.

Also by Edward Ruthurfurd

Sarum
Russka
London
Dublin: Foundation
Ireland Awakening
New York

PREFACE

THE FOREST is a novel. The families whose fortunes the story follows are fictitious, as are their parts in the historical events described. I have tried, however, at all times to set their stories amongst people and events that either did exist or might have done.