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A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689
by Jonathan Healey
A fresh, exciting history of seventeenth-century England, a time of revolution when society was on fire and simultaneously forging the modern world.
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics. In fiery, plague-ridden London, in coffee shops and alehouses, new ideas were forged that were angry, populist, and almost impossible for monarchs to control.
But the story of this century is less well known than it should be. Myths have grown around key figures. People may know about the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London, but the Civil War is a half-remembered mystery to many. And yet the seventeenth century has never seemed more relevant. The British constitution is once again being bent and contorted, and there is a clash of ideologies reminiscent of when Roundhead fought Cavalier.
The Blazing World is the story of this strange, twisting, fascinating century. It shows a society in sparkling detail. It was a new world of wealth, creativity, and daring curiosity, but also of greed, pugnacious arrogance, and colonial violence.
"A wide-ranging study of the social and political makeup of 17th-century Britain...An educative history and fresh civics lesson for a new generation." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Healey's elegant narrative provides a sure guide through the century's labyrinthine political intrigues while analyzing deeper social dynamics that he crystallizes in dramatic scenes of hierarchies being suddenly upended." —Publishers Weekly
"Vast yet intimate, scholarly yet accessible, this is narrative history at its best. Jonathan Healey's The Blazing World blazes indeed: a huge achievement." —Miranda Malins, novelist, author of The Puritan Princess
"Here a familiar and very important story is told with exceptional clarity and vigour, and plenty of very unfamiliar anecdotes and characters, drawn from all over the nation and all of Stuart society." —Ronald Hutton, author of Pagan Britain and The Making of Oliver Cromwell
This information about The Blazing World was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jonathan Healey is a historian of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and author of The First Century of Welfare: Poverty and Poor Relief in Lancashire, 1620–1730. He is associate professor in social history at Oxford University, where he earned his doctorate in 2008. He lives in London.
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