Disaffection and Everyday Life in Interregnum England: 29 (Studies in Early Modern Cultural, Political and Social History) - Hardcover

Boswell, Caroline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1783270454 ISBN 13: 9781783270453

Publisher: Boydell Press, 2017

Synopsis

A look at how ordinary English men and women responded to the transformations that accompanied the regicide, the creation of a republic, and the rise of the Cromwellian Protectorate. How did ordinary English men and women respond to the transformations that accompanied the regicide, the creation of a republic, and the rise of the Cromwellian Protectorate? This book uncovers grassroots responses to the tangibleconsequences of revolution, delving into everyday practices, social interactions, and power struggles as they intersected with the macro-politics of regime change. Tussles at local alehouses, encounters with excise collectors inthe high street, and contests over authority at the marketplace reveal how national politics were felt across the most ordinary of activities. Using a series of case studies from counties, boroughs, and the London metropolis, Boswell argues that factional discourses and shifting power relations complicated social interaction. Localized disaffection was broadcast in newsbooks, pamphlets, and broadsides, shaping political rhetoric that refashioned grassroots grievances to promote royalist desires. By uniting disparate people who were alienated by the policies of interregnum regimes, this literature helped to create the spectre of a unified, royalist commons that materializedin the months leading up to Charles II's Restoration. Such agitation - from disaffected mutters to ritualistic violence against officials - informed the broad political culture that shaped debates over governance during one of the most volatile decades in British history. CAROLINE BOSWELL is Associate Professor in History at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay.

About this title

Review

Caroline Boswell's book . . . presents a wealth of vivid and valuable material, much of it drawn from local records and the underused Northern Assize records. It is a very welcome addition to the literature, and a fine example of how the new politics of the parish could be closely tied to the national story. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY

It is about ordinary people living ordinary lives. This makes this book compelling reading..Where Boswell's book makes a powerful contribution to the existing literature on Interregnum England is not only in its analysis of everyday experiences in relation to larger political issues but also in its discussion of the transformative use of print. CERCLES

Scholars of 17th-century Europe will appreciate this dense book. CHOICE

Edition details

• Publisher: Boydell Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1783270454
• ISBN 13: 9781783270453
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300