Researching his family tree, Peter Algar unearthed a family connection with the Bolling family of Bradford’s historic Bolling Hall.

The discovery led him to write The Shepherd Lord, a gripping historic novel set in Yorkshire during the War of the Roses. At the heart of the story is the clash between the Clifford family and other feudal families from the period.

Horsforth writer Peter says he wrote The Shepherd Lord over a year “for an hour a day before dawn”.

The book was launched at Bolling Hall.

The hall was a Royalist stronghold in a sea of Parliamentarian fervour in Civil War-era Bradford, but also has strong connections with the War of the Roses.

Peter’s book is the story of young Henry Clifford, heir to the vast estates of the North of England, who is spirited away after the Battle of Towton, to escape persecution, and becomes a shepherd in the wilds of Yorkshire. “It’s an old tale which has been bursting to be told for a long time,” says Peter, who is now planning a sequel.

Narrated by the shepherd who raises Henry until it is safe for him to reclaim his birthright, this is an exciting, beautifully-written book set against the backdrops the bloody feud between England’s leading families and the idyllic rural landscape of 1400s Yorkshire.

Along the way, Peter explores identity, roots and nurture, and the unbreakable bond between two people from very different backgrounds.

The fast-paced story draws on one of the most eventful periods of English history and, as Peter says, it’s one that has been bursting to be told for centuries.

A must-read for anyone with an interest in this period of local history, or anyone who simply fancies a gripping read.