Review by Choice Review
Master storyteller Ackroyd's third study in his projected six-volume history of England picks up where he left off in Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I (CH, May'14, 51-5226). This straightforward narrative chronicling the years from 1603 to 1689 details England's turbulent 17th century. From the union of the crowns of England and Scotland under James I through the ensuing growth of parliamentary discord, civil war, and regicide, to the eventual accession of William of Orange during the Glorious Revolution, the author paints a vivid portrait of the peaks and valleys of the Stuart age. As a matter of course, Ackroyd delivers a colorful, anecdotal history that is highly accessible to general readers. While Tim Harris's similarly titled Rebellion: Britain's First Stuart Kings, 1567-1642 (CH, Oct'14, 52-1045) appears to cover comparable ground, it is more academic in nature and focuses primarily on the development of the Stuart monarchy and the reasons for its eventual collapse under Charles I. Both studies have their respective audiences, and therefore a place in the same collection. This volume includes more than 30 high quality illustrations. Summing Up: Recommended. General collections/public libraries. --Michele Frasier-Robinson, University of Southern Mississippi
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
This splendid third volume of Ackroyd's projected six-volume history of England follows "Foundation: The History of England From Its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors" and "Tudors: The History of England From Henry VIII to Elizabeth I." "Rebellion" takes England's story from the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 to the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. Political and social upheavals altered the system from a near-absolute monarchy at century's start to something close to a modern parliamentary democracy at its end. Ackroyd keeps things moving briskly along by alternating between weighty matters of state and vignettes of everyday life. An accomplished novelist, he has an eye for the revelatory digression. But he also deftly sketches the high and mighty, devoting several chapters to the eccentric James I and to his son, Charles I, whose fatal dithering in disputes with Parliament led to civil war and his own execution and fueled the rise of Oliver Cromwell. Republican rule was so inadequate that Cromwell considered being crowned king. Instead, the monarchy returned with Charles II, who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed and thereby paved the way for the Protestant ascendancy under the Dutch King William after the overthrow of Charles's hapless Catholic brother, James II. In essence, this is the story of the extinction of medieval England and the birth of modern times. "It is in a sense like watching a foreign world," as Ackroyd says, "except that there are still flashes of recognition and understanding."
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [January 25, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, broadcaster, and historian. In the third volume of his projected six-volume history of England, his subject is the tumultuous seventeenth century, which encompassed the rise of the Stuart dynasty, the continued artistic flowering launched in the Elizabethan Age, a ruinous civil war, and the triumph of parliamentary supremacy under the banner of the Glorious Revolution. Ackroyd is a wonderful storyteller, and he has a wonderful and vitally important story to tell. At times, he employs the great man approach, providing excellent insights into the character and motivations of several of the prime movers of events, including the awkward, intelligent James I; the tragically tone-deaf, doomed Charles I; and Charles' nemesis, the distinctly unlovable Oliver Cromwell. But Ackroyd also understands that what he refers to as the poetry of history can be written in short strokes as well as broad. He eloquently describes the development of literature, the ongoing religious controversies, and the evolving political sympathies and their effects on the lives and opinions of ordinary citizens. Although general readers in the U.S. may find some of the names and places unfamiliar, this masterful work of popular history will remind them that the ideas that launched our own revolution were forged during this seminal period of English history.--Freeman, Jay Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Agitation was in the air throughout 17th-century England, and Ackroyd skillfully captures the feelings and events of the time in this third volume of his history of England (following Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I). The narrative opens with the merging of England and Scotland under one monarch, James I, whose massive gluttony Ackroyd contrasts with the dire finances of the country as a whole. There existed a "gulf between king and country," as the author describes it, which only widened during the reign of James I's successor, Charles I, due to wars with Spain and France. Following great financial distress and a civil war that pitted royalists against parliamentarians, Charles I was executed. While Scotland declared Charles II king, England's parliament steered the country into what became the "Commonwealth of England," with Oliver Cromwell as "Lord Protector." In 1660, the monarchy was restored with Charles II on the throne. Ackroyd ends at the Glorious Revolution-when William III (William of Orange) overthrew James II after yet more religious upheaval-having left no stone unturned. Addressing politics, religion, court life, scandal, science, literature, and art, the depth and scope of Ackroyd's account is impressive, and it is as accessible as it is rich. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Biographer, historian and novelist Ackroyd (Three Brothers, 2014, etc.) continues his History of England series with the third of six proposed volumes. What makes the author so special is that he relates history as it once was told by the bards. Ackroyd tells us not just the history, but the story behind it and the story as it might have been viewed at the time. This was a violent period of religious struggle, with countless groups vying to eliminate each other and all of them hating the Catholics. King James was so impressed by the wealth of England that he immediately set about spending just about every penny in the treasury. He relied mostly on the help of his favorites at court, particularly the Duke of Buckingham, who scoffed at Parliament's impeachment. The premature death of Henry, James' eldest and most Protestant son, left inept Charles to inherit the throne and continue the Stuart traditions of divine right and treating Parliament as his piggy bank. They just couldn't accept that the king might be subject to English common law. All this led up to the civil war, the beheading of Charles and the rise of Oliver Cromwell, who was a man with more power than any king and who ruled as an absolute military dictator. His death quickly brought Parliament together to reinstitute the House of Lords and the office of king in the person of Charles II. He and his brother, James II, clung to the Catholic religion, generally poor attitude toward Parliament and lots of devious plots, which inevitably led up to the Glorious Revolution. Oddly enough, during the reigns of the early Stuart kings, trade increased, shipbuilding peaked, coal production doubled, and the agricultural revolution laid the basis for the 18th-century's Industrial Revolution. Appropriately detailed, beautifully written story of the Stuarts' rise and fallwill leave readers clamoring for the further adventures awaiting England in the 18th century. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
