The Blazing World

A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689

Jonathan Healey

$79.95

Hardback

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English

Alfred A. Knopf
11 April 2023

History; British & Irish history; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700; Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions

AN ECONOMIST AND NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A fresh, exciting, “readable and informative” history (The New York Times) of seventeenth-century England, a time of revolution when society was on fire and simultaneously forging the modern world. • “Recapture[s] a lost moment when a radically democratic commonwealth seemed possible.”—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker

“[Healy] makes a convincing argument that the turbulent era qualifies as truly ‘revolutionary,’ not simply because of its cascading political upheavals, but in terms of far-reaching changes within society.... Wryly humorous and occasionally bawdy”— The Wall Street Journal

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.

By: Jonathan Healey
Imprint: Alfred A. Knopf
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 242mm, Width: 168mm, Spine: 36mm
Weight: 890g
ISBN: 9780593318355
ISBN 10: 0593318358
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 11 April 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

JONATHAN HEALEY is a historian of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and author 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.

Reviews for The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689

The Blazing World tells the story of that crucible era when Englishmen began to think. About God and government, how to limit the monarchy and how 'the poorest he' (if not the poorest she) might share in some kind of democracy. Jonathan Healey explains Revolutionary England with great insight and wit, and an objectivity usually lacking in histories written with an inclination towards one side or the other. The book helps us to understand how and why, 400 years ago, Englishmen came to develop political and religious beliefs for which they were prepared to die and would eventually amalgamate in a way which set Britain (and, ideologically) America on a path to greatness. -Geoffrey Robertson KC, author of The Tyrannicide Brief