BLAZING WORLD: A New History of Revolutionary England

A WATERSTONES, TELEGRAPH, ECONOMIST AND NEW YORKER BOOK OF THE YEAR, a major history of England's turbulent seventeenth century and how it marked the birth of a revolutionary new world. 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. Leaders like Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, and William of Orange have been reduced to caricatures, while major turning points like the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution have become shrouded in myth and misunderstanding. 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 myths have grown around key figures. From raw politics to religious divisions, civil wars to witch trials, plague to press freedoms. 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 shows a new world of wealth, creativity, and daring curiosity, but also of greed, pugnacious arrogance, and colonial violence. In the Times Literary Supplement, Michael Braddick writes of the difficulty of containing the variety of subjects in the period, including figures such as Isaac Newton. 512 easy to turn deckle-edged pages.