Tudor and Stuart Britain charts the political, religious, economic and social history of Britain from the start of Henry VII’s reign in 1485 to the death of Queen Anne in 1714, providing students and lecturers with a detailed chronological narrative of significant events, such as the Reformation, the nature of Tudor government, the English Civil War, the Interregnum and the restoration of the monarchy.
This fourth edition has been fully updated and each chapter now begins with an introductory overview of the topic being discussed, in which important and current historical debates are highlighted. Other new features of the book include a closer examination of the image and style of leadership that different monarchs projected during their reigns; greater coverage of Phillip II and Mary I as joint monarchs; new sections exploring witchcraft during the period and the urban sector in the Stuart age; and increased discussion of the English Civil War, of Oliver Cromwell and of Cromwellian rule during the 1650s.
Also containing an entirely rewritten guide to further reading and enhanced by a wide selection of maps and illustrations, Tudor and Stuart Britain is an excellent resource for both students and teachers of this period.
Roger Lockyer is considered as one of the premier Tudor and Stuart historians, and this fourth edition of his history of the period proves this. The fourth addition includes much more material on the reign of Mary I and Phillip II and the interregnum of the Commonwealth and Protectorate. Fully recommended as an introduction to the period. The bibliography and recommended further reading sections are sublime.
Under a vast series of headings the basic laws and lives of the period are explained. It will become a reference book that I will continue to use in the future study of this period's history. Each situation, reason for, military and parliamentary decision etc., is written in such a manner that even an aspiring undergraduate can understand.
I will probably use more Roger Lockyer books in my early modern research. It covers just about everything you would need. The textbook format can be suffocating in its broadness, but it contains the necessary specificity.
A good overview which seems very much a text for a college course. It is not dumbed down or filled with useless "study questions" but seems like an excellent beginner's book or a review book for someone who hasn't studied the period in a while. Solid with no novelties or surprises.