The King's City: London under Charles II: A city that transformed a nation – and created modern Britain

by Don Jordan

During the reign of Charles II, London was a city in flux. After years of civil war and political turmoil, England's capital became the center for major advances in the sciences, the theatre, architecture, trade and ship-building that paved the way for the creation of the British Empire.


At the heart of this activity was the King, whose return to power from exile in 1660 lit the fuse for an explosion in activity in all spheres of city life. London flourished, its wealth, vibrancy and success due to many figures famous today including Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, and John Dryden — and others whom history has overlooked until now.


Throughout the quarter-century Charles was on the throne, London suffered several serious reverses: the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire in 1666, and severe defeat in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, which brought about notable economic decline. But thanks to the genius and resilience of the people of London, and the occasionally wavering stewardship of the King, the city rose from the ashes to become the economic capital of Europe.

The King's City tells the gripping story of a city that defined a nation and birthed modern Britain — and how the vision of great individuals helped to build the richly diverse place we know today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, London, British Literature

544 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2017

Reviews

[Ettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never been one to really read big history books, but I am working on a project set in this era and picked this book up for research. I'm so glad I did. It was incredibly thorough, and I was rarely bored. Everything presented is fascinating and I found so much I wasn't looking for. Beyond that, there's just enough personality in the author's narration to show how much he loves what he is writing about. It makes you love it to! Highly recommend.

[Dave Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written account of London during the restoration, showing how the capital lunged from crisis to crisis; religion, regicide, plague, and fire, and yet still came out of it ahead of the game, with the foundations laid for the British Empire, industrialisation and slavery on an epically tragic scale. It describes how London helped usher in the age of enlightenment and reason, with the Royal Society and it's scientific greats, the shoulders upon which Newton himself stood, starting to eliminate myth and superstition by the application of the scientific method, reason and study, concurrent with the guilds, corporations, money men and state monopolies inventing a new world order of international trade and expansionism that financed it all. All written in an engaging and enjoyable style, I highly recommend it.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adequate survey of life in London in the 1660's. It was okay overall but wasn't as interesting, lively, or as readable as Liza Picard's Restoration London.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - the story of a reign told through the lives of a variety of Londoners. Really paints a picture of life in the capital at the time.

[Stephen Ede-Borrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I found this fair history of the reign of Charles II combined with a biography of the King - it is not really a narrative of 'London under Charles II' except where the City impinges on the Crown and/or the Country. The author's strong dislike for Charles (and James for that matter) is fairly evident and comes across in many of its pages - there is little attempt to understand the King within the context of his time and his 'wanderings' which created his character.

I also found the author's (fashionable?) insistence of bringing up the slave trade at every and all opportunity to be mildly annoying, as well as at times inaccurate England, (and note it was ENGLAND not Britain) did not (according to the Slavery Database) represent three-quarters of the trade. Slavery is reprehensible but has to be put in the contact of the time and England's involvement under the Stuarts should not be exaggerated for some political effect.

I'm not sure that I could honestly recommend the book, there are better biographies of Charles II available and also better books on London, but I read it to the end which says something I suppose (although the fact that the book is now in a charity shop also says something).

[Paganus Kiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a particularly enlightening read on the relationship between Charles II and the City of London and Parliament, which bore on the success, or in many ways stagnation, of the City until the Glorious Revolution swept the Stuarts, and their visions of absolutism, away. I was not happy with typos, jumbled sentences and the pages of the prologue out of order. Poor editorial work is a disservice to the author.

[Bruce Beavis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great snapshot of London from 1660 through to the death of Charles II. It is an eventful period with the Great Fire, the Great Plague, wars with the Dutch, and the expansion of global trade. It also involved a great flowering of scientific and artistic knowledge in including the founding of the Royal Society, the opening of the theaters, and the rise of coffee house culture.
Well worth the time.