Stuart Britain: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #021

by John Morrill

The Great Fire, the Black Death, flip-flopping religious persecution, the overthrow and reinstatement of the monarchy. The Stuart Britain era, a notch on the timeline spanning roughly 1603-1714, is one of the most interesting times in the history of Britain. John Morrill's Stuart Britain: A Very Short Introduction brings us the major events, characters, and issues of the day. Special attention is given to the defeat King Charles I by the Parliamentary Army, and the successive waves of authoritarian Puritan, Protestant and Catholic rule which followed. Vividly illustrated and full of intriguing details, this is an ideal introduction to a fascinating time.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, Ebooks, Medieval, Politics, Historical

99 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2000

About the author

John Morrill was educated at Altrincham Grammar School (Cheshire) and at Trinity College Oxford (BA 1967, DPhil 1971). He was a Research Fellow there (1970-4) and a Lecturer at Stirling University (1974-5) before moving to Cambridge in 1975 as Lecturer, Reader and now Professor. He has been a Fellow of Selwyn College since 1975 and was Director of Studies in History 1975-92, Tutor 1979-92, Admissions Tutor 1982-7, Senior Tutor 1987-92 and Vice Master 1992-2001. He was elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995 and served as Vice President from 2001-9. He is also an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Academy of Finland, and he holds honorary degrees from several universities and is an Hon. Fellow of Trinity College Oxford and Trinity College Dublin.

Reviews

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the books in this series are very educational.

This book is about the reigns of the Stuart kings of Britain from James I to William III.

As you know, there were two revolutions in England in the 1600s, one in the period 1642-49 and another for good measure in 1688.

The book covers Society and Economic Life, Government and Law, and Intellectual and Religious Life, giving a complete picture of the country. The Civil Wars, The Commonwealth, and The Restoration are all covered as well.

If you're interested in the English Civil Wars and Oliver Cromwell, this book is a wonderful place to start as it provides much needed background as to why Charles I was executed. The Further Reading section has some great suggestions about which books to read next.

There is one startling fact, at least to my mind. The period 1569 - 1642 was the most peaceful period in England's / Britain's history up until that time. And then you could say that things changed. Let that be a lesson to all of us - even though people may look happy and content it doesn't take much to start a revolution, in this case one man's arrogance in dealing with one section of his population led to his overthrow.

[Cali]

flirting with the seventeenth century, no one tell my tudors

[Matilda Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful brief overview of the Stuart monarchs and political, economic, social and religious turmoil of the period.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most books in this series run to 150 pages. This book barely hit 90. This led to a wholly unsatisfactory treatment of an extremely interesting period in English--if not world-- history. How can you write a book on this period and not mention the literary heavyweights active at the time? Urgh, a good book if you've never heard of the period, but almost useless otherwise. There is some good information on the economy and culture in there though.

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this very short introduction could have been just a little bit longer.

[Harry B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 2.75 star rating.

This book is a hard one for me to hate, but not necessarily one to like as well. Although it sports as a (very short) introduction, it presupposes a certain level of knowledge on the part of the reader, which obviously defeats the purpose of it being "introductory". Regardless, it is a very short read, and perhaps too short at that, yet it manages to touch upon macro and micro governance under the Stuart kings, the economy, migration within Britain, as well as emigration to North America. Of course, it spends a subtantial amount of space on the English Civil Wars (I was surprised to discover there were three in total), as well as Charles I and his mismanaged rule. Fascinating but hopelessly confusing was its passing explanation of the religious controveries permeating English society in Old and New England. Understandably the book does not attempt to explain the differing religious attitudes of the time, but a reader such as myself can't help but feel helpless without a quick Google search here and there. It's prose, furthermore, swings from straightforward narrative, to a hodgepodge of cold economic descriptions to the varied vocabulary and names attached to religious groups and mores. Finally, it is not a complete picture of Stuart Britain, for England is mostly mentioned, whilst Scotland is mentioned for lest than one page (not an exaggeration). Indeed, Ireland got more than a page (perhaps for the simple reason it got ravaged the most by Cromwell).

Yet, despite its (literally short) shortcomings, the book pulls through and gets the job done: that is, it has admirably plotted the themes and topics from this lowkey pivotal age onto my mental map of seventeenth century England. It is now left to a much more fleshed out book to connect the dots.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The British Historian John Morrill wrote an introduction to the Stuart British Isles. The book covers the history of the British Isles from the start of the reign of James I as King of England in 1603 until James I’s grandson, James II, was forced to flee the British Isles in 1688. I read the book on my Kindle. William III and his wife, Mary, replaced James II on the throne. Morrill writes Mary was James II’s “Protestant daughter” (Morrill 70). This was known as the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 (Morrill 73-76). Morrill’s book covers the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. The book has a timeline. The book has a map entitled “major battles and sieges of the English Civil Wars” (Morrill xi). The book covers both the English Civil War and the government of Oliver Cromwell. The Goodreads reviewer Julian Worker is correct in the surprising fact that the late Tutor and the early Stuart dynasties were one of most peaceful in the history of the British Isles until that time, even though this era ended in the English Civil War. The book has three general chapters. One chapter is on the social and economic history of the Stuart British Isles. One chapter is on the government and laws of Stuart British Isles. One chapter is on the “intellectual and religious life” of Stuart British Isles (Morrill 77-86). The book has a section entitled “further reading” (Morrill 88-90). The book has an index. Morrill’s short book on the Stuart British Isles is well done. I found the Goodreads reviewer Julian Worker's book review helpful in writing this ‘review.’
Works Cited:
Dunn, John. 2003. Locke: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.

[Robert Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great little refresher! I was very impressed with the way that Morrill packed an absolute ton of information into 85 brief pages. He did a good job of covering the consistency and the change over an absolutely packed century or so of British history. I was a bit puzzled by the exclusion of Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts, but I suppose it makes sense. If you've only got so many pages, and the English Civil War, AND the Glorious Revolution to talk about, you've got to make some choices.

Morrill covers the highlights of the 1600s in Britain. He also focuses a great deal on religion, which makes a good deal of sense. Differing versions of Christianity were at the center of every political development in the 17th century. These British events may have eventually led to a more secular age, but that was not what anybody expected at the time. Morrill manages to cram in some poignant description of the way that religious fatigue was beginning to creep in at the end of the century.

His choice, in a text I don't believe has been edited in 24 years, to open with a discussion of demographics, is quite prescient. It's a good reminder that there are many significant eras before our own when fertility was falling. Not a data point that we get from current doomsayers on this topic.

A good little book. Does what it says it does.

[Annabel_Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely short even by this series's standards--to the point that William and Mary barely get a blurb, and Queen Anne and the transition to Hanovers /isn't even mentioned/. Even the timeline in the back of the book ends in 1689 which...isn't the end of the Stuarts?
Most of the focus is on politics, government structure, political culture, and religion in the context of social and political spheres--which was interesting! It does do a good job in tracking that, and there's not fat to this essay at all, which is appreciated considering I needed just a FAST 101 on the era for something I'm writing.

...but it didn't include all the Stuarts, leaving me both EXTREMELY baffled and very upset, given how disproportionately excited I was to come across this title when tyring to find something that covered bare minimum Charles II through Anne in the same book, but wasn't 1000 pages.

[Andrew Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughout this book I wanted more detail, but that's why it's titled "a very short introduction". Morrill opens with an overview of the broad demographic and social changes over the seventeenth century and then moves on to the reigns of each of the sovereigns. There's a final chapter on intellectual and religious developments.

The structure works as the impersonal statistics in the first two chapters provide a helpful context and contrast for the chapters on the political people. It really was a rich period of history for England and the sense of change over the century from a medieval to a modern world really comes through strongly.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really a non-fiction kinda gal tbh. Also I already know a lot of what was covered as I studied it during my AS course for History. Which is actually why I bought this book and started reading it... 2 years ago... I think I need to stop stop reading things and then stopping reading them. Basically I just need to commit.

[John Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A winderful little book, distilling a career in the seventeenth century into so fe wpages. Most sentences wrap up decades of study in straightfoward summary or opinion. A great introduction.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read!

[Melissa Braine · Rating 3 out of 5]

read to get some more context for my A level topic- interesting and informative but mostly a strong revisionist bias on no significant change

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short look into the basics of the reign of the Stuart dynasty in Great Britain. This starts with the reign of James I, goes through the end of the reign with Queen Anne. The author also includes chapters on The Civil War that took place, though he divides it into two separate wars. He also has a chapter on the interregnum period when Cromwell was in charge. This was not a dynasty that I had known much about prior to reading this book so I learned quite a bit and plan on looking for some of the books mentioned in the bibliography for further reading.

[M. Ashraf · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the past couple books, they make a good intro for a fast and short History of Britain.
Starting from the Roman era to the Anglo-Saxon, The Medieval, the Tudors and now Stuart Britain and I am going to move on to 18th, 19th and 20th century in the next couple.

As in the previous books it is short and pass through most of the important events of the time, with short account of the state of the nation during the period.
We see the rise and fall of Charles I, the civil wars, the Cromwell period and the comeback of the monarchy.
It is a good read.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite long enough to do justice to what may be the most important period in British history, the author nevertheless gives it a good say for itself. Interestingly, he attributes the rise of religious individualism, and later secularism, to the aftermath of the Civil War, which I'm not sure is entirely justified, but never mind. He rightly notes that it did give rise to the Whig/Tory divide that would define politics for the next couple of centuries.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was okay...a bit too brief to cover such a broad subject. The writer's bias against the Puritans--with whom I am far more sympathetic--is fairly obvious. I found it was especially helpful when covering the economic and social aspects of the time period. I will keep it around as a reference, but I don't see myself going to it often. There are other pieces that do a better job.

[Johanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good short digest of a fairly tumultuous period in history. Handy if you want a quick overview of the 17th C. Unsurprisingly it focuses on the Stuarts and the Civil war but also briefly covers the social history of the period.

[neave steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

will never understand people who sit down, read non-fiction and smile