The Stuart Age

The Stuart Age provides an accessible introduction to England's century of civil war and revolution, including the strains upon and breakdown of the Elizabethan system of government in the early Stuart decades; the causes of the English civil war; the nature of the English Revolution; the aims and achievements of Oliver Cromwell; the continuation of religious passion in the politics of Restoration England; and the impact of the Glorious Revolution and its repercussions upon England and Britain. The sixth edition has been thoroughly revised and updated by Peter Gaunt to reflect new work and changing trends in research on the Stuart age. It expands on key areas, including the early Stuart social and economic contexts; recent work on gender, printing and print culture and the public sphere; key military events and debates surrounding the English civil war, its causes, outcome and consequences; England's colonies and colonial expansion, foreign policy and wars and engagement with Continental Europe. While focusing on England, it also provides strong coverage of developments in Scotland and Ireland, and it also explores the position of Wales and the Welsh. The Stuart Age is a long-standing favourite of lecturers and students of early modern English and British history, and this new edition is essential reading for those interested in or studying the Stuart period.

Barry Coward was Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London. His publications include Oliver Cromwell (2000) and The Cromwellian Protectorate (2002). Peter Gaunt is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Chester and a current Vice President and past Chairman and past President of The Cromwell Association. His previous publications include studies of the civil wars of the 1640s in English, Welsh and British contexts, of Oliver Cromwell and of Protectoral central government. With Barry Coward, he is the author of English Historical Documents, 1603-1660 (2010), and with Roger Lockyer, of the most recent edition of Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1485-1714 (2019).

List of maps, tables, genealogical tables and figures Preface to the sixth edition Explanatory notes and abbreviations PART 1 Early Stuart England Introduction 1. The economy of early Stuart England 2. The society of early Stuart England 3. The physical and mental horizons of the early Stuarts 4. The constitutional and political structures in early Stuart England: politics from above and from below PART 2 The Reigns of the Early Stuarts, 1603-1640 Introduction 5. The survival of the old system, 1603-1621 6. The collapse of the old system, 1621-1640 PART 3 The English Revolution, 1640-1660 Introduction 7. The making of the English Revolution, 1640-1649 8. The search for a new settlement, 1649-1660 PART 4 The Reigns of Charles II and James II, 1660-1688 Introduction 9. The shortcomings of 'the Restoration Settlement', 1660-1674 10. Catholicism, crown and kingdom, 1674-1688 PART 5 The Reigns of the Later Stuarts Introduction 11. The reign of William III, 1689-1702, and of Mary II, to 1694 12. The reign of Queen Anne, 1702-1714 PART 6 Later Stuart England 13. Later Stuart England: change and continuity at home 14. Later Stuart England: engagement with the wider world Bibliography Appendix I: Timeline Appendix II: Glossary Index