The Noble Revolt. The Overthrow of Charles I

Adamson, John

ISBN 10: 0297842625 / ISBN 13: 9780297842620

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Publishing Group Ltd, London, 2007

About this Item

First edition, first impression. SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, WITHOUT DEDICATION, IN BLACK PEN, ON TITLE PAGE. Some slight edge wear to top and bottom of jacket and spine, 'Signed by the Author' sticker to front jacket, corners very slightly bruised, price clipped, no other inscriptions, internally clean tight and square, overall a vg+ copy. 742pp, illustrated. John Adamson's massive book traces the careers and fortunes of the small group of English noblemen who risked their lives and fortunes to challenge the king's attempt to create an authoritarian monarchy in the Stuart kingdoms during the 1630s. Beginning with a core of little more than a dozen, this aristocratic leadership exploited a contemporary insurrection in Scotland to stage a revolt against Charles's rule in England. Successfully forcing the king to summon a Parliament against his will, they embarked, together with their English and Scottish allies, on the creation an entirely new religious and political order, one, moreover which came to have strongly republican overtones, in mainland Britain. What was achieved in that 'year of wonders', 1641, astonished and alarmed contemporaries, the trial and execution of the king's most powerful minister, a new and sometimes violent phase of religious reformation, the drastic curbing of the powers of the Crown, the planning of a major Anglo Scottish military intervention in the Thirty Years' War. And in England as in Scotland, the control of government and the armed forces came to be monopolized by a small cartel of noblemen, answerable to Parliament for their stewardship with the monarch's status henceforth reduced as Charles himself complained to that of a 'Doge of Venice'. Yet throughout this process of 'reformation' the threat of war was rarely absent. As these twin aristocratic 'Juntos' in London and Edinburgh began to assert their newly won authority in the summer of 1641, their ambition and radicalism triggered a series of reactions, initially in Ireland but eventually in England and Scotland as well, that made the resort to armed force come to seem a viable, perhaps even the only, means of resolving the conflicts within the Stuart realms. Very scarce signed. An immense heavy book, extra postage may be required.

Seller Inventory # 010549

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Noble Revolt. The Overthrow of Charles I
• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Publishing Group Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0297842625
• ISBN 13: 9780297842620
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jacket after Sir Anthony Van Dyck
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

John Adamson's book traces the careers and fortunes of the small group of English noblemen who risked their lives and fortunes to challenge the king's attempt to create an authoritarian monarchy in the Stuart kingdoms during the 1630s. Beginning with a core of little more than a dozen, this aristocratic leadership exploited a contemporary insurrection in Scotland to stage a revolt against Charles's rule in England. Successfully forcing the king to summon a Parliament against his will, they embarked, together with their English and Scottish allies, on the creation an entirely new religious and political order - one, moreover, which came to have strongly republican overtones - in mainland Britain. What was achieved in that 'year of wonders', 1641, astonished - and alarmed - contemporaries: the trial and execution of the king's most powerful minister; a new, and sometimes violent, phase of religious reformation; the drastic curbing of the powers of the Crown; the planning of a major Anglo-Scottish military intervention in the Thirty Years' War. And in England, as in Scotland, the control of government and the armed forces came to be monopolized by a small cartel of noblemen, answerable to Parliament for their stewardship, with the monarch's status henceforth reduced - as Charles himself complained - to that of a 'Doge of Venice'. Yet throughout this process of 'reformation', the threat of war was rarely absent. As these twin aristocratic 'Juntos' in London and Edinburgh began to assert their newly-won authority in the summer of 1641, their ambition and radicalism triggered a series of reactions - initially in Ireland, but eventually in England and Scotland as well - that made the resort to armed force come to seem a viable, perhaps even the only, means of resolving the conflicts within the Stuart realms.

About the Author

John Adamson is a Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and has written extensively on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century political and cultural history. He is a winner of the Royal Historical Society's Alexander Prize and the University of Cambridge's Seeley Medal for History.