What do you think?
Rate this book
The Putney Debates of 1647: The Army, the Levellers, and the English State
In the autumn of 1647, soldiers and officers of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army held discussions near London on the constitution and future of England. Would there be a king and lords, or not? Would suffrage be limited to property holders? Would democratic changes lead to anarchy?
Three generations of scholars examine the debates in their multiple contexts: the Putney debates themselves, the nature and history of the actual text that has come down to us, the immediate concerns of the Army, the role of Leveller and other democratic ideas, the wider ramifications for politics and gender of the issues underlying Putney, and the place of the debates and the Levellers in 19th- and 20th-century historical consciousness.
Though frequently anthologized and widely read, the debates receive here their first sustained and varied scrutiny, resulting in a much richer appreciation of the very words reported to have been spoken by Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Thomas Rainborough, and the others, during those three tense and exhilarating days.
Three generations of scholars examine the debates in their multiple contexts: the Putney debates themselves, the nature and history of the actual text that has come down to us, the immediate concerns of the Army, the role of Leveller and other democratic ideas, the wider ramifications for politics and gender of the issues underlying Putney, and the place of the debates and the Levellers in 19th- and 20th-century historical consciousness.
Though frequently anthologized and widely read, the debates receive here their first sustained and varied scrutiny, resulting in a much richer appreciation of the very words reported to have been spoken by Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Thomas Rainborough, and the others, during those three tense and exhilarating days.
- GenresHistory
312 pages, Hardcover
First published August 27, 2001
36 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.