Restoration: Charles II and His Kingdoms, 1660 - 1685

by Tim Harris

The late seventeenth century was a period of extraordinary turbulence and political violence in Britain, the like of which has never been seen since. Beginning with the Restoration of the monarchy after the Civil War, this book traces the fate of the monarchy from Charles II's triumphant accession in 1660 to the growing discontent of the 1680s. Harris looks beyond the popular image of Restoration England revelling in its freedom from the austerity of Puritan rule under a merry monarch and reconstructs the human tragedy of Restoration politics where people were brutalised, hounded and exploited by a regime that was desperately insecure after two decade of civil war and republican rule.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, 17th Century, Biography, British Literature, European History, Royalty

506 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Tim Harris received his BA, MA and PhD from Cambridge University and was a Fellow of Emmanuel College from 1983 before moving to Brown in 1986. He teaches a wide range of courses in the political, religious, intellectual, social and cultural history of early modern England, Scotland and Ireland. A social historian of politics, he has written about the interface of high and low politics, popular protest movements, ideology and propaganda, party politics, popular culture, and the politics of religious dissent during Britain's Age of Revolutions.

Reviews

[Karen Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating - if somewhat dry in parts- study of the politics of the Restoration that examines not only the role of the general public in the maintenance of the monarchy and its governance, but also the challenges they posed as they too responded to propaganda and used their growing voice. The first book in a two-volume set (that can nonetheless be read on its own) this book explores the rise of journalism and news-sheets, religious and political schisms (eg The Popish Plot as well as the establishment of "Whigs" and "Tories" - as oppositional factions as well as various other political positions such as Trimmers and Levellers) and looks at not only the impact Charles's rule had on England, but also upon Scotland and Ireland as well. There are some real nuggets in this book which is fabulous for anyone interested in this period of history, or students and scholars. Throughly researched and footnoted, it's an important addition to the Restoration canon of research.

[Flynn Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book quickly dispatched with the Whiggish narrative of the failure of the Restoration as an essential prologue to 1688. Harris displays in fact that politics was far more contested and complex on the ground, especially when seen through a three-kingdoms approach.

[Robert Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles II is best known as the "Merry Monarch" and the Restoration is known for revival of the arts and other pleasures, but this book sheds a light on the darker side of the Restoration. In fact, we find that while Charles II had a lackadaisical approach to governing in his first years, those years produced, along with a revival in the arts, a revival in the very movements that sparked the Civil War, and the voracity of its opponents. Once Charles realized that his brother's succession was under threat, he began a repression of Anglican Puritans and dissenting Protestants that reviled, and even surpassed, the repression that had sent the pilgrims packing decades before. It also set the stage for the repressive rule of James II and the revolution that was to follow. All and all, Harris' well-documented book does a very good job presenting a deeper, darker look at the Merry Monarch and his reign.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book. I didn't really know about the Exclusion crisis--the effort by the Whigs to exclude Charles II's brother james--who was Catholic--from the throne should Charles die. How amazingly complicated the times were. Harris wants to show that you cannot understand the Restoration without understanding that the Restoration was three different things in each of the three Kingdoms--England, ireland and Scotland. Events unfolded differently in each and the King played the Kingdoms off against each other.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

nonfiction,history

[Boone Ayala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harris seeks to answer two questions: 1) why did a regime that was popular in 1660 fall into crisis by 1680? 2) How did Charles restore stability?

The answer to the first question is that the Restored monarchy was bedeviled by structural problems. In England, the lack of monarchical power over enforcement in the localities, coupled with the legacy of political and religious division from the Civil Wars between a dissenting, pro-Parliament interest and an established royalist interest led to friction, particularly when the Cavalier settlement in all three kingdoms appeared in favor of established churches.

The English dissenters witnessed the suppression of Presbyterians in Scotland, and the crown’s experiments with indulgences and toleration for Catholics in Ireland, alongside Charles’s growing dependence on Louis XIV. They began to fear that there was a design for property and arbitrary government at work in the three kingdoms, one which would reach a new degree with the accession of James.

The English whigs mobilized their supporters and managed to completely stop royal enforcement in the late 1670s, precisely as the Presbyterians were launching a failed rebellion in Scotland in response to state repression. They conquered the commons and made it impossible for the crown to pursue its agenda.

How then did the Crown escape this trap? In Scotland, it ramped up political persecution, using the crown’s extensive powers in its northern kingdom to declare martial law and suppress dissent, which was (understandably) tied to sedition.

In England, the policy was two pronged. The Crown mobilized its own, Tory supporters, and aligned with the Anglican-Whig interest. It launched a sophisticated propaganda campaign which pointed at the apparent support for the crown coming out of the Scottish Parliament (which was far more dependent on the monarch than its English counterpart) and from Established Churchmen in Ireland. With these supports, the crown convincingly argued that should England exclude York, they would bring about renewed Civil War.

The other prong was repressive. Laws against dissent were enforced more strictly, and the Whig press suppressed. The leaders of the Whigs were imprisoned, exiled, or marginalized in the early 1680s, especially after the Rye House plot. The crown used both propaganda and policy to defeat the Whig challenge in England.

In all cases, Charles’s success depended on alliance with Anglican-Royalist Tories. In the first instance this made sense, particularly because the Crown needed royalist supporters and was wary of dissent following the Civil Wars. But Charles wedded the regime to the High Church interest - the crown was in alliance, rather than all-powerful. James II would misunderstand this, and would go on to alienate the established church and lose his throne.

[ཟླ་བ ཏ་མང · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supreme

[Альберто Лорэдо · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book that shows an impressive research behind it. However, there are far too many irrelevant details added to this that make this an absolutely cumbersome read.

[Roan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential in understanding not only English history but the histories of Scotland and Ireland as well.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Harris has revived Restoration Britain.

[Gustaf Erikson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the political background of the Restoration. Mostly interesting for the origin of the Whig and Tory parties in British politics.