{"title":"The Stuarts","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLearn more about life in th\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ee\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Stuart\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e period\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewith\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e our \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003especially\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e curated selection of books by leading historians and authors. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"white-king-the-tragedy-of-charles-i","title":"White King: The Tragedy of Charles I","description":"\u003cp\u003eLess than forty years after the golden age of Elizabeth I, England was at war with itself. The bloody, devastating civil wars set family against family, friend against friend. At the head of this disintegrating kingdom was Charles I. His rule would change the face of the monarchy for ever. Charles I's reign is one of the most dramatic in history, yet Charles the man remains elusive. Too often he is recalled as weak and stupid, his wife, Henrietta Maria, as spoilt and silly: the cause of his ruin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this portrait, informed by newly disclosed manuscripts, including letters between the king and his queen, Leanda de Lisle uncovers a Charles I who was principled and brave, but also fatally blinkered. This is a tragic story for our times, of populist politicians and religious war, of a new media and the reshaping of nations, in which women vied with men for power. For Charles it ended on the scaffold. Condemned as a traitor and murderer, he was also heralded as a martyr: his reign destined to sow the seeds of democracy across Britain and the New World.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42729387819139,"sku":"9780099555278","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9780099555278.jpg?v=1655224809"},{"product_id":"devil-land-england-under-siege-1588-1689","title":"Devil-Land: England Under Siege, 1588-1688","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAmong foreign observers, seventeenth-century England was known as 'Devil-Land': a diabolical country of fallen angels, torn apart by seditious rebellion, religious extremism and royal collapse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eClare Jackson's dazzling, original account of English history's most turbulent and radical era tells the story of a nation in a state of near continual crisis. As an unmarried heretic with no heir, Elizabeth I was regarded with horror by Catholic Europe, while her Stuart successors, James I and Charles I, were seen as impecunious and incompetent. The traumatic civil wars, regicide and a republican Commonwealth were followed by the floundering, foreign-leaning rule of Charles II and his brother, James II, before William of Orange invaded England with a Dutch army and a new order was imposed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eDevil-Land reveals England as, in many ways, a 'failed state': endemically unstable and rocked by devastating events from the Gunpowder Plot to the Great Fire of London. Catastrophe nevertheless bred creativity, and Jackson makes brilliant use of eyewitness accounts - many penned by stupefied foreigners - to dramatize her great story. Starting on the eve of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and concluding with a not-so 'Glorious Revolution' a hundred years later, Devil-Land is a spectacular reinterpretation of England's vexed and enthralling past.\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"Penguin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42917535875203,"sku":"9780141984575","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9780141984575.jpg?v=1659176232"},{"product_id":"the-fall-of-cromwells-republic","title":"The Fall of Cromwell's Republic and the Return of the King","description":"\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis book completes the series of studies of the 'British Revolution of the Three Kingdoms of England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland ' and covers the period from the fall of the 'failed state' and Protectorate in 1657 to the restoration of the Stuart monarchy and Charles II in 1660, examines the Restoration settlement in depth and a high point in Stuart pro-French and Catholic policy - contrary to the 1660 Restoration understanding when Charles !! vowed reluctance 'go on {his} travels again' and follows the Stuart Restoration and pro-French - and pro-Catholic foreign policy to 1670. Cromwell's death had signalled the end of an overarching figure who held the failing state together and began England's nascent 'great power' foreign and 'colonial' policy. It covers Richard Cromwell's emergence and as a figure far from the 'Tumbledown Dick' of popular legend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eAlso, the remarkable role of General George Monck as the genial military man guiding the failing and chaotic state to Restoration and stability. Monck underpinned the gentry and merchant class as the root of state and society which outlived civil wars, military dictatorship, political chaos and Stuart monarchical rule.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e","brand":"Pen \u0026 Sword","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43062393667715,"sku":"9781526789396","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9781526789396.jpg?v=1671710820"},{"product_id":"james-i-the-king-who-united-scotland-and-england","title":"James I: The King Who United Scotland and England","description":"The life of King James VI who united England and Scotland under one crown and became James I in 1603 is marked by contradictions. Generally praised as a good king of Scotland and a poor English one, James was a deep theological thinker, but he also inspired a superstitious frenzy which resulted in the North Berwick witch hunt and trials in the 1590s. Scholar and pedant, he was in his own view God’s appointed ruler, yet also a foul mouthed sloven and forever tarnished with the title of the Wisest Fool in Christendom.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThe most glaring contrast in his personal life was between his image as a married family man and as a ruler who lavished indiscreet affection on a series of men whom he invested with considerable power. This book approaches James through the lens of his relationships with his major favourites. First was Anglo-French lord Esme D’Aubigny, then Scottish squire Robert Carr (later Earl of Somerset), and finally the consummate nobleman George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. ‘A king will have need to use secrecy in many things,’ the king wrote in one of his books. Although his private life was sometimes astonishingly visible, there are still many mysteries about James I as a man rather than a ruler.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis work tracks the king’s life from a barren childhood through a succession of plots, intrigues and conspiracies in Scotland which largely forged, or deformed, his character. Beyond his complex and disputed connection with these men the book looks at his relationship with his wife, sponsorship of the arts, and contains a reappraisal of the first and most neglected historical mystery of his first reign, the Gowrie Conspiracy.","brand":"Pen \u0026 Sword","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43152811688067,"sku":"9781399093590","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/products\/9781399093590.jpg?v=1676991734"},{"product_id":"royal-mysteries-of-the-stuart-and-georgian-periods","title":"Royal Mysteries of the Stuart and Georgian Periods","description":"'There is nothing new under the sun', a phrase ascribed originally to King Solomon, applies to the present book, with echoes of 'modern' themes exposing royal scandal, sex, corruption, political absolutism - attempted - religious controversy, danger of mass-terrorism, murder and 'suspicious' deaths, 'fake news' and international threat from superpowers. And all focussing on inside stories which today would be 'investigative journalism' with huge popular media interest. This is history for both specialists and, especially, for general readers, given media interest, including TV and film coverage in 'exciting' popular history, as set out by the author. The earlier 'Royal Mysteries' in the series were full of tragedy, suffering, pathos, heroism and romance, but the present set are equally interesting and disturbing and revisionist. These include the alleged attempt to murder James I and VI before the became King of England; the scandal at court involving 'poisoned tarts', James' 'toy-boy', and a subsequent murder trial. And the following questions and mysteries: did Charles II really promise to convert to Catholicism to please Louis XIV; did Charles marry his mistress Lucy Walter, mother of rebel Duke of Monmouth; was James II and VII an enlightened religious reformer or trying to convert England to Catholicism - the religion of European superpowers; did George I 'disappear' (a 'hit' in modern terms) his divorced wife's lover before ascending the English throne; did the unpopular Duke of Cumberland murder his gay lover; did the hugely admired 'respectable' George III, devoted husband and father, marry a middle-class Quaker woman?","brand":"Pen \u0026 Sword","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43361697824899,"sku":"9781399054249","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9781399054249.jpg?v=1697876691"},{"product_id":"the-blazing-world-a-new-history-of-revolutionary-england-1","title":"The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England","description":"The seventeenth century began as the English found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and ended in the shadow of a Dutch invasion. Midway through, society collapsed into a civil war, followed by army coup and regicide. For a short time – for the only time in history – England was a republic.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIn coffee shops and alehouses, ordinary people fizzed with ideas that were angry, populist and almost impossible to control. Despite these radical changes, few today fully understand the story of this revolutionary age. 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 are shrouded in myth.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eYet, as Jonathan Healey argues, the period has never been more relevant. From raw politics to religious divisions, civil wars to witch trials, plague to press freedoms, The Blazing World tells the story of this strange but fascinating century in exuberant, panoramic detail.","brand":"Bloomsbury","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43825177198723,"sku":"9781526621696","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9781526621696.jpg?v=1711458623"},{"product_id":"republic-britain-s-revolutionary-decade-1649-1660","title":"Republic: Britain’s Revolutionary Decade, 1649–1660","description":"\u003cp style=\"margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;\"\u003eA biography of a daring and an unprecedented decade: the 1650s\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003eEvents moved fast in the 1650s. Something cataclysmic happened every year, something that would thrust the newly formed republic, its people, and its eventual ‘Lord Protector’ Oliver Cromwell, in an entirely new direction. It was a time of bewildering change and uncertainty, but it was also a time of innovation and opportunity. And, for the men and women who lived through these years, this period was certainly not an ‘interregnum’. The restoration of Charles II in 1660 was not inevitable, nor was it welcomed by everyone.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; outline: 0px; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black;\"\u003eEngland’s unique republican experiment ­– imposed on Scotland and Ireland, too – may have been short-lived, but it has had a lasting impact on British monarchy, politics, religion and culture, and on the story the British continue to tell about themselves. It is a period that, for a long time, history chose to forget, or recalled as a failure. Here, in thrilling detail, Alice Hunt brings the republic and its extraordinary cast of characters, from politicians to poets and prophets, back to life.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Faber","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55312694247808,"sku":"9780571303199","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/files\/9780571303199-530x815.jpg?v=1736511391"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0364\/6285\/4275\/collections\/BOOKS_c868b331-5cb3-4692-aa7c-821b9a3eb292.jpg?v=1622647271","url":"https:\/\/shop.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/collections\/stuart\/17th-century.oembed","provider":"The National Archives Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}