Amias, who is suspected of causing the explosion and is also arrested for 'harbouring the enemy.' Zeal-for-the-Lord is one of the wounded recovered from the explosion and before he dies, helps clear Amias. Simon is also freed and the story ends four years later in 1649, after the Second English Civil War with the two resuming their friendship. In 'Simon,' Sutcliff addresses a theme that re-appears in many of her works ie that of conflicting personal and societal loyalties and what keeping faith with one can mean for the other. Thomas Fairfax also appears in Sutcliff's novel 'Rider of the White Horse,' written from the perspective of his wife Anne Fairfax. Historical background Rosemary Sutcliff wrote that it is a fiction based on real events; "Most history books deal with the final campaign of the civil war in a single paragraph, and the Battle of Torrington they seldom mention at all. In this story I have tried to show what that final campaign in the west was like, and to re-fight the battles fought over my own countryside. Most of the people I've written about really lived; Torrington Church really did blow up, with 200 Royalist prisoners and their Parliamentary Guard inside, and no one has ever known how it happened, though Chaplain Joshua Sprigg left it on record that the deed was done by 'one Watts, a desperate villain.'" While the fact of the explosion is historically correct, other sources claim the prisoners were Parliamentary soldiers held by the Royalists (Sutcliff has it the other way round), while the actual number killed is unclear. The battle itself features in local historical re-enactments. References External links Website on Simon and all Rosemary Sutcliff books by her godchild and literary executor 1953 British novels 1953 children's books British children's novels Children's historical novels Novels by Rosemary Sutcliff Novels set during the English Civil War Novels set in Devon Oxford University Press books