The Young Cavalier: A Story of the Civil Wars

"The Young Cavalier: A Story of the Civil Wars" by Percy F. Westerman is a historical fiction set during the English Civil War and introduces Humphrey Markham, a fifteen-year-old boy, eager to leave school and the start of an adventure. The story begins as Humphrey is stuck at school during the summer holidays, away from his family in 1642. He longs to join his father, who is fighting for the King, a feeling shared by his friend Ralph Granville. Events unfold around them, showing the rising conflict through a mayor's rebellious speech and military activity. Spurred on by these events, and an encounter with a royalist colonel, the two boys make a life-changing decision to abandon their education to join the royalist army, changing their lives forever.