Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720

Often overwhelming in its content, yet this history on the Glorious Revolution is the best I've read thus far in my studies.

Tim Harris' Revolution is yet another take on the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 in Britain. Interest in this subject seems to have widened over the past five years. Edward Vallance, one of Britain's most important young historians, took a shot at the Revolution in his short, very readable account of three years ago, The Glorious Revolution. Steve Pincus' 1688, published two years ago, is a far broader version of events but is flawed by constant claims of its unique view of the Revolution. Harris's work, now five years old, is the most complete and nuanced version of the events in the late seventeenth century that changed British society and its government.This was an important revolution but one that could have been delayed or possibly even averted had the Stuart dynastic line, one that started with the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 and the ascension of James I to the throne, not wound up late in the seventeenth century with the tragic four-year reign of the last of the Stuarts, James II. This James was a deeply flawed regent: he was inept in military matters; he attempted to supplant the ruling Protestant class with Catholics, even though Catholics represented only 1% of the population; he seemed in the pocket of Louis XIV of France, a monarch thoroughly despised by the vast majority of Englishmen; he produced no heirs other than a contested child late in his regency by his Catholic wife; he had only the faintest grasp of European power politics, then in a death struggle between the Protestant lands of northern Europe and the Catholic southern countries; he disbanded Parliament, which only met once early in his reign. Ultimately, his fate was sealed when William III of Holland landed in the West Country with a large, well-equipped army and marched, virtually unopposed, into London to displace James from the throne. James fled his country and, with the exception of a brutal military defeat in Ireland a year later, never again returned to the British Isles.Professor Harris, now at Brown University, tells far more than the story of James' doomed monarchy. There is far more to tell and this is where his account of the Revolution reaches a higher level of understanding than either of these later books. He tells the story of the changes in the structure of British government, swinging from royal absolutism to a far more consensual government. Never again could a British monarch rule without the consent and constant presence of Parliament. The Revolution was the source of political parties in Britain, the reorganization of the economy with the establishment of the Bank of England, the formation of a cabinet of ministers who exercised increasing power, and the emergence of a prime minister, who gradually became the preeminent representative of the people's Parliament.Britain, after the Revolution, was a different place than Britain before James. The changes in the structure of government were only part of the story. Scotland became joined to England through an Act of Union in 1709, utterly unthinkable if James had not been deposed. Ireland was subdued and ruled by British landowners for more than 200 more years. Britain was drawn into European affairs and played a crucial role in neutralizing France's hegemony over the continent. The first shoots of what became the British empire were immeasurably strengthened after James left the throne.Harris' book is tough going in some respects. it is not only long but deals with both Scotland and Ireland, each a tough story to tell, in very complex terms. But Revolution does the job of telling what was different and important about the events that enabled Britain to pivot from an insular island regency to begin its long journey into a representative democracy, a journey that was eventually the model for the American colonial revolution a hundred years later.This is the book to read to grasp the significance and importance of the Revolution.

Très complet avec des faits précis et clairs. L'écriture, agréable elle aussi, fait que le livre se lit sans difficulté.

Nothing to fault, everything to like in an academic history book.But it's also easy to read and understand for the lay person

This is Tim Harris's second of two books covering the Restoration of King Charles II and the Glorious Revolution that ended the reign of his brother James II.Whilst the author states that each of these books can be read in isolation, I would recommend that they be read together in sequence since the first gives so much insight into the second. But if you are not familiar with the history of those times, I would further recommend first reading a more broad-brush history of the events (such as Edward Vallance's "The Glorious Revolution: 1688 - Britain's Fight for Liberty") to gain a better perspective of Harris's theses.Theses is probably an appropriate word to describe Harris's books since they are academic works that break new ground, and differ in many ways from more customary histories. Most noticeably they do not focus on events: the Monmouth rebellion is dealt with in less than a page, and the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Boyne are covered in probably fewer words. Yet what he writes about these and other events is all that needs to be said about them (though one might not appreciate their historic significance if one was not familiar with the stories surrounding them). Instead, Harris focuses on the way events were affected by the views of contemporary people - monarchs, ministers, MPs, churchmen, local officials and the general population, and how the lives of people were affected by then.Both books are in fact compendiums of contemporary quotations from historical records, combined with Harris's own incisive interpretation of the views that are expressed and on the effects of such views on events. It's a vivid mosaic that gives the reader a genuine sense of appreciating and understanding the later-Stuart world as people experienced it. Indeed Harris's intended purpose in doing this is to demonstrate how public opinion rose in importance in steering the actions of the leading politicians of the day, and ultimately how it brought about the deposition (or resignation) of James II.Not only is Harris's work unusual in its approach to the interpretation of history, but it is probably unique in describing the effects of Charles and James II's policies on the three kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland and how each country's response to events affected the policies of the others. Harris claims (no doubt correctly) that no detailed study had previously been conducted into the causes and effects of the Glorious Revolution on the Scottish kingdom, and yet it becomes clear from his narrative that events in Scotland had a profound effect on those in both England and Ireland.Harris's work firmly justifies his conclusion that the Glorious Revolution was perhaps not so Glorious and it was certainly not the peaceful revolution that it is sometimes claimed to be, especially in the Scottish and Irish kingdoms where much bloodshed resulted. But Harris demonstrates that it was, in all its various outcomes, a much more profound revolution than the Cromwellian revolution in that it not only shaped the Britain of today, but many its effects are still with us and even now are only gradually being undone - for instance with the formation of an independent Scottish parliament, and discussions about ending the ban on Royal marriages to people of the Catholic faith.Harris's two books combine to make probably the most interesting "history" that I have ever read. He is to be congratulated for completing what must have been a monumental task in researching and recording thousands of contemporary records, interpreting their meaning and putting them into a modern perspective, whilst consistently maintaining a pace and style that makes both his books compulsive reading.

Despite - or may because of - the exhaustive detail provided, this is an absorbing story of a crucial period in British history with due attention paid to what was going on in Scotland and Ireland as well as in England. This gives perspective to events which tend to have been described from one standpoint.

Un livre tout à fait magnifique, super intéressant et rempli de détails croustillants! Je conseil vivement si vous aimez l'histoire