Stuart Age

Barry Coward was Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London. His publications include Oliver Cromwell (2000) and The Cromwellian Protectorate (2002).Peter Gaunt is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Chester and a current Vice President and past Chairman and past President of The Cromwell Association. His previous publications include studies of the civil wars of the 1640s in English, Welsh and British contexts, of Oliver Cromwell and of Protectoral central government. With Barry Coward, he is the author of English Historical Documents, 1603–1660 (2010), and with Roger Lockyer, of the most recent edition of Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1485–1714 (2019).

Praise for 5th EditionThe Stuart Age enjoys a hard won reputation as one of the best introductions to the 'British Isles' during an era of civil war and revolution. This updated edition, containing much that is new, makes the volume still more indispensable to students and teachers alike.Dr David Ceri Jones, Aberystwyth University, UKThe late Barry Coward’s The Stuart Age, 1603-1714 has long been regarded as the best single-volume introduction to the history of seventeenth-century England. This revised fifth edition elegantly updates Coward’s work for the post-Cameron generation. The book is prefaced with an excellent new introduction by Peter Gaunt, which surveys the dizzying quantity of new writing on the subject which has appeared since the fourth edition was published, in 2012, and incisively summarises the current state of the field. Gaunt’s deep knowledge of all aspects of seventeenth-century English life makes him the ideal scholar to refresh and rejuvenate Coward’s original text - and his work has ensured that, in its latest incarnation, The Stuart Age will continue to be required reading for all who teach and study this most fascinating of historical periods.Mark Stoyle, University of Southampton, UK

• List of maps, tables, genealogical tables and figuresPreface to the sixth editionExplanatory notes and abbreviationsPART 1 Early Stuart EnglandIntroduction1. The economy of early Stuart England2. The society of early Stuart England3. The physical and mental horizons of the early Stuarts4. The constitutional and political structures in early Stuart England: politics from above and from below PART 2 The Reigns of the Early Stuarts, 1603–1640 Introduction5. The survival of the old system, 1603–16216. The collapse of the old system, 1621–1640PART 3 The English Revolution, 1640–1660 Introduction7. The making of the English Revolution, 1640–16498. The search for a new settlement, 1649–1660PART 4 The Reigns of Charles II and James II, 1660–1688Introduction 9. The shortcomings of ‘the Restoration Settlement’, 1660–167410. Catholicism, crown and kingdom, 1674–1688PART 5 The Reigns of the Later StuartsIntroduction11. The reign of William III, 1689–1702, and of Mary II, to 169412. The reign of Queen Anne, 1702–1714PART 6 Later Stuart England13. Later Stuart England: change and continuity at home 14. Later Stuart England: engagement with the wider worldBibliographyAppendix I: TimelineAppendix II: GlossaryIndex