The Glorious Revolution - Hardcover

Vallance, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1933648244 ISBN 13: 9781933648248

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2008

Synopsis

"A swashbuckling re-examination of a forgotten moment in British history by a richly talented young historian."―Daily Telegraph

Heeding the call of England’s ruling class, the Dutch Prince William of Orange landed with a massive invasion force and within six weeks expelled the Catholic King James II in 1688. In what was largely heralded as a bloodless revolution, William and his English wife Mary, James II’s Protestant daughter, were crowned joint monarchs, accepting the Declaration of Rights that affirmed Parliament’s ancient rights. It was a turning point in Britain’s march toward universal suffrage and liberties. But as acclaimed historian Edward Vallance reveals, the Glorious Revolution was characterized by warfare and bloody massacre (especially for Catholics and Irishmen), affected the rights of the common man in ways traditional histories have ignored, and engaged the British populace in the affairs of government as never before. A thriller-paced book―rich in seventeenth-century first-person accounts of the bloodshed and political machinations of the period―that turns every debate about this great historical event on its head.

About this title

About the Author

Edward Vallance completed his BA and Ph.D. at Balliol College, Oxford. From 2000 to 2002 he was the De Velling Willis Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield. He is now a lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Liverpool.

Reviews

England's Glorious Revolution—when the ruling, quasi-Catholic Stuart dynasty was usurped by the robustly Protestant William of Orange—has traditionally been regarded as the most boring revolution ever. It was quick, it was bloodless, it was polite—all very English, in other words. As Vallance's epigraphs show, commentators as diverse as Karl Marx and Margaret Thatcher agreed that William's ascent to the throne led to Britain's rise as a commercial, democratic, religiously tolerant world power. Vallance, a professor of early modern history at the University of Liverpool, aims to upset this comfortable consensus and to inject some vividness, action and even gore into the story. He succeeds nicely and his account serves as an admirable introduction to this confusing era. Writing with brio, Vallance possesses a sound grasp of narrative pacing and clarifies the often incomprehensible (at least to modern readers) political, religious and constitutional issues of the time. Paradoxically, Vallance is weakest on the personal character and motivations of the deposed king James II, who remains something of a cipher. Though Vallance wrote originally for a British audience, American readers will be startled to discover how greatly their founders relied on the principles of the Glorious Revolution a century later. 8 pages of color illus. (Apr. 16)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1933648244
• ISBN 13: 9781933648248
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400