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Tim Holden

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5 min read

Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
4.3 · 290 Amazon ratings
reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
$13.47 on AmazonAudiobook
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Front cover of Rule Britannia: The Washingtons

Our review

Rule Britannia: The Washingtons

Rule Britannia: The Washingtons by Tim Holden Review: Book One of The New World Saga

by Tim Holden

Rule Britannia: The Washingtons is a historical novel by Tim Holden, Book 1 of 3 in The New World Saga. The author's site places it in 1738 Virginia, following Lawrence Washington. It suits readers wanting to start a colonial-era family saga.

$13.47 on Amazon
Our age band: Adultwarfare and the violence of empire · family betrayal

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Readers who want to begin a colonial-era American historical series centred on the Washington family in 1738 Virginia, and who are happy to follow it across more than one volume.

Worth it if

Worth reading if you enjoy family-driven historical fiction set around the Virginia gentry and the wars of empire, and you're willing to commit to a three-book saga.

Skip if

Skip it if you want a self-contained novel, since this is Book 1 of 3 and opens a larger arc rather than resolving on its own.

4.3from 290 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

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Rule Britannia: The Washingtons is a family-centred historical novel built around Lawrence Washington in 1738 Virginia, and it opens The New World Saga as Book 1 of 3. It suits readers who want to begin a colonial-era series and are comfortable committing to more than one volume; anyone wanting a standalone story should look elsewhere.
Is it worth reading?
Whether it pays off depends on your appetite for the setup rather than a verdict on execution: it is a first volume, and the arc it opens runs across three books. If you enjoy colonial Virginia and family-driven historical fiction, the premise is aimed squarely at you. If you want an ending within one cover, this one is not built for that.
Similar books
For readers drawn to American-founding fiction featuring real families, Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie's America's First Daughter and A Founding Mother: A Novel of Abigail Adams both fictionalise figures of the early republic. Geraldine Brooks's March, James McBride's The Good Lord bird and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing widen the lens to other American fiction spanning different periods, each approaching the past through a different perspective.
Who should read this?
This appeals to readers following a colonial Virginia series centered on the Washington family across several books. Fans of family sagas and period fiction are the natural audience, going by the premise the author describes. It is aimed at adults rather than younger readers.
What age is it for?
This is written for adult readers. The material available here does not state a specific age rating, and the subject matter described, empire, war and family betrayal in the 1700s, points to a mature historical readership rather than children.
About Tim Holden
Tim Holden was born in 1979 in Norfolk, England, where he still lives with his wife and two sons. He writes historically grounded fiction rooted in established history, drawing on the work of historians to place real and fictional characters within social, political and military realities. He is the author of the New World Saga series, which includes Rule Britannia.
Where does it sit in the series?
It is Book 1 of 3 in The New World Saga, so it is the natural starting point and does not require reading anything first. Because it opens rather than closes the story, later volumes continue what begins here.
When was it published and in what format?
The Amazon listing gives it as a Nielsen paperback published on 23 February 2026, ISBN 978-1916244832.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

Per the author's site, the story begins in Virginia in 1738 with Lawrence Washington, a man who has never been content with a quiet life. He is pulled between ambition, loyalty and love, and has to deal with family betrayals at home and the brutality of empire abroad. The author frames it as the origin story of the war that shaped the birth of the United States, with Lawrence's choices carrying on beyond his own lifetime.

Follow up

Who is Lawrence Washington?
Which war is the book about?

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Our Review

We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.

Rule Britannia: The Washingtons is a historical novel by Tim Holden, the first of three books in The New World Saga, according to its Amazon listing. This page summarises what the book is and who it suits, and does not weigh whether it succeeds.

What is Rule Britannia: The Washingtons?

The Amazon listing gives Rule Britannia: The Washingtons as a paperback from Nielsen, published on 23 February 2026, running 314 pages (ISBN 978-1916244832). It is marked as Book 1 of 3 in The New World Saga.
The author's own site describes it as the "dramatic origin story of the war that shaped the birth of the United States," from the author of the "acclaimed New World Saga." That is Holden's description of his own book.

What does Rule Britannia: The Washingtons cover?

According to the author's site, the story opens in Virginia in 1738, where Lawrence Washington "has never been content with a quiet life." The same blurb says he is caught between ambition, loyalty and love, and must navigate family betrayals at home and the savagery of empire abroad.
The author's blurb adds that his choices will echo beyond his own lifetime, shaping the destiny of the Washington name. Beyond that description, nothing here lays out the book's plot, tone or treatment of its period.

Is Rule Britannia: The Washingtons worth reading?

No critic or reader review of the book is available, so there is no basis here for judging whether it succeeds, how it handles its period, or how accurate it is historically. What can be said is limited to its description: a family-centred historical novel built around Lawrence Washington, pitched by its author as the start of a longer saga.
Weighing only that description, it points towards readers who like colonial-era American settings and multi-book historical sagas, and away from anyone wanting a self-contained story. The one firm warning is structural: it is Book 1 of 3, so it opens a larger arc rather than standing alone.

Who is it for, and who should skip it?

It suits readers who want to start a historical series set around the Washington family in colonial Virginia and are happy to commit to more than one volume. Fans of family sagas and period fiction are the natural audience, going by the premise the author describes.
If you want a stand-alone novel, or need independent confirmation of a book's quality before buying, it may not be the right pick yet. Readers seeking the author's earlier work should note the blurb refers to an "acclaimed" New World Saga, a claim that comes from the author's own page.

Sources & Further Reading

The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.

  1. 1
    Rule Britannia – Tim Holden

    timholden.com

Age & Reading Level

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Adult

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Content to know about

warfare and the violence of empire
family betrayal

Skip if you want a self-contained novel that resolves within a single volume.

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