(diaryland) January 14, 2010 - 10:11 a.m.

I'm reading a book about this guy who was a lawyer in the 1600s who had the job of prosecuting King Charles I when he'd done the civil war thing. I haven't got to that part of the book yet, but Jesus, what a nerve-racking thing to have to do at the time. Just about every other lawyer in London had disappeared off to the countryside or were pretending to be really sick. It was a no-win situation for this guy.

P.S. a good soundtrack to the English Civil War is The Civil War by Matmos. I think it's a really good album. It's probably meant to be for the American Civil War, though it sounds older.

I'm pretty sure the lawyer guy's going to have a pretty hard time when Charles II gets on the throne. The book has a sneak preview of a common person's execution, namely the hung, drawn and quartered type one. One thing I didn't know about being hung, drawn and quartered is that they grab a bit of flesh from the inside of your bum with hot tongs and burn it in front of your face. That's just after you get hanged for a bit, and before they disembowel you.