Adrian Tinniswood

We know of, I think there are 11 fatalities that we know of.

I suspect there were quite a lot more than that.

People who were just caught when fire broke out in front of them and behind them, as was happening in the streets of London.

So people were caught.

I would guess maybe 40 or 50.

What we do know is that consistently in the aftermath of the fire,

people were thanking God that there were so few casualties.

The fire was seen as punishment, and it depended on whose side you're on.

It was either punishment because we had killed the king, Charles I, or it was God's punishment because the good old cause, the Commonwealth, we backed off.

It depends on which side you're on, really, as to who God was punishing.

But in spite of God punishing London, he had shown mercy, and everybody says this.

So it's pretty clear, I think, there were surprisingly few casualties.

Well, yes and no.

I mean, he is in there getting involved.

He's getting involved in a fairly kind of airy-fairy way.

He's riding around on his horse with a saddlebag full of coins, kind of flinging them at people and urging them to help with the fire.

In fact, it's his brother, it's James Duke of York, the future James II of England, who is the absolute hero.

Don't get me wrong, James Duke of York, as king, as James II, he has the political acumen of a chicken.

He's useless as a king.

We can all agree on that.