A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603-1714

by Mark Kishlansky

Overview

The sixth of nine volumes in the major Penguin History of Britain series, A Monarchy Transformed narrates the tempestuous political events of the Stuart dynasty. It charts the reigns of six monarchs, and the course of two revolutions as well as religious upheavals that shook the beliefs of seventeenth-century Britons to the core.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141949710
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	08/28/1997
Series:	Penguin History of Britain Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	395,869
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

MARK KISHLANSKY is Professor of English and European History at Harvard University. He is a well known author in his field, and lives in the USA.

Table of Contents

A Monarchy TransformedList of Maps
Preface
Prologue
1. The Social World
2. The Political World
3. The Scottish Accession, 1603-1618
4. The Duke of Clubs, 1618-1628
5. The Reign of Charles I, 1629-1637
6. Rebellion and Civil War, 1637-1644
7. Civil War and Revolution, 1645-1649
8. Saints and Soldiers, 1649-1658
9. The Restoration Settlements, 1659-1667
10. For Church and King, 1668-1685
11. A Protestant Succession, 1685-1689
12. A European Union, 1689-1702
13. Great Britain, 1702-1714
Epilogue
For Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

This sweeping, dramatic chronicle of a century of Stuart rule will rivet even the general reader with no particular interest in British history. Harvard history professor Kishlansky charts a tumultuous period of internecine wars, revolutions, political crises and endless religious strife, an era that saw England's union with neutralized Scotland, its conquest and plunder of Ireland, its acquisition of an empire in America. Each narrative chapter begins with a vivid italicized account of a key event (e.g., the trial and execution of Charles I in 1649; the 1628 knifing assassination of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, scapegoat for the failure of wars against Spain and France)-a device that works well, segueing into in-depth discussions of the political, social and economic conflicts that roiled Britain. There are magisterial, incisive portraits of Oliver Cromwell, fired by a millenarian vision of a glorious world to come; Catholic zealot James II, whose unprecedented, abortive libel suit against the Archbishop of Canterbury and six bishops led to his own ouster; and peacemaker Queen Anne, stubborn, unattractive, taciturn, yet beloved, whose rule brought the maturing of party politics. Kishlansky freshly delineates an age that opened with the public whipping, branding and mutilation of vagrants and closed with a newly defined interdependence of king, Parliament and the people. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A beautifully written but narrowly focused narrative of high politics in 17th-century Britain.

Kishlansky (English and European History/Harvard) recognizes that history is a story and that a good historian is a storyteller. His strongly delineated point of view contributes to the flow of the narrative, and his enthusiasm for the subject sustains the reader through thickets of detail about high politics and war. Viewing 17th-century Britain through the eyes of those at the top, Kishlansky always comes down on the side of political stability. He successfully avoids uncritical power worship with judicious criticism of both the Stuart monarchs and of Cromwell. However, as a volume in the new Penguin History of Britain (see also Peter Clarke, Hope and Glory: Britain 19001990, p. 186), A Monarchy Transformed is intended to provide a definitive introductory guide for the student and general reader. Although every historian must leave things out of the story, too many important things are neglected in this one. Kishlansky mentions in passing such important matters as Britain's overseas empire, the slave trade, art and literature, science and mathematics, but doesn't weave such materials into his narrative. John Donne is identified merely as a recipient of royal patronage, and John Milton dismissed as an "ideologue." The momentous religious changes of the period are discussed mainly when they influence politics or threaten social stability. What is most disappointing, though, is the treatment of women. Queen Mary is mentioned and Queen Anne gets a chapter, but beyond that women appear at the margins of history, as irrational teenage royal brides or midwives accused of kidnapping children for satanic rituals. Women should not be marginalized in any volume that aspires to the status of a general survey.

Although successful as a forceful narrative of politics at the center, this volume is a disappointing general introduction to 17th-century British history.

Kirkus Reviews