Charles II

The ascension of Charles II to the British throne in 1660 marked the end of the English republican era-and the start of a period of unparalleled hedonism among the English ruling elite. The reader is first given the astonishing-and often shocking-details of Charles II's youth, including his parent's desperate but ultimately fruitless attempts to retain the throne. That sad tale ended with Charles I's public execution, and the imprisonment or exile in France of his family. Charles II's reign...