Nature of the English Revolution Revisited

The nature of the seventeenth-century English revolution remains one of the most contested of all historical issues. Scholars are unable to agree on what caused it, when precisely it happened, how significant it was in terms of political, social, economic, and intellectual impact, or even whether it merits being described as a 'revolution' at all. Over the past twenty years these debates have become more complex, but also richer. This volume brings together new essays by a group of leading scholars of the revolutionary period and will provide readers with a provocative and stimulating introduction to current research. All the essays engage with one or more of three themes which lie at the heart of recent debate: the importance of the connection between individuals and ideas; the power and influence of religious ideas; and the most appropriate chronological context for discussion of the revolution. STEPHEN TAYLOR is Professor in the History of Early Modern England at the University of Durham. GRANT TAPSELL is Lecturer in Early Modern History, University of Oxford and Fellow and Tutor at Lady Margaret Hall. Contributors: Philip Baker, J. C. Davis, Kenneth Fincham, Rachel Foxley, Tim Harris, Ethan H. Shagan, John Spurr, Grant Tapsell, Stephen Taylor, Tim Wales, John Walter, Blair Worden