Reviews for Early Modern England 1485-1714 A Narrative History

The average rating for Early Modern England 1485-1714 A Narrative History based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-07-24 00:00:00 Molly Reed Exactly as advertised. It looks at the monarchs of England (from Henry VII through Anne), the challenges they faced and how they dealt with them. It weaves several themes throughout the book. 1. The monarch steadily lost power throughout this period because parliament controlled the pursestrings. Henry VIII got involved in a lot of wars and set up his own church (which was really Catholicism without the Pope) and needed allies in parliament to pay for them. So he called parliaments more often than he wanted. Elizabeth got in less wars, so she called them less, but still needed money so couldn't avoid them altogether. The Stuarts were in constant conflict with parliament on issues of royal prerogatives, taxes and religion, which eventually got one executed and another deposed. Through the Civil War and Glorious Revolution, parliament claimed sovereignty of the country, as opposed to a divinely appointed monarch. After the Glorious Revolution, England was involved in multiple wars that cost money, which meant that the monarch must appoint ministers who could get parliament to go along. This led in the direction of having a Prime Minister to run the country, which began shortly after the Hanovers took over. 2. Protestantism did not pay off for the crown. Once Henry VIII, broke away from Rome, he wanted to use Anglicanism as a means to control his people, but protestants are a surly lot and kept dissenting from his views. This was less an issue for him, but a much bigger one for the Stuarts. A few monarchs wanted to reinstate Catholicism, but that faced a huge backlash as the country had become overwhelmingly protestant. This was a factor in the Civil War and in the Glorious Revolution. For the last few Stuarts, tolerance of all protestants was policy, although Catholics were still facing potential persecution. 3. The need for money, which drove power to parliament, also made the English become more creative in raising revenue. Because of judicious use of taxes and promoting trade, England was punching above it's weight in wars. The Bank of England was formed in the 1690s to finance war with France and paid off big in the long term. The authors disparage English strength under Henry VIII, compared with Spain and France. Although Elizabeth expanded its power, it was still a minor player. But with the accession of William and Mary and then Anne, England began its ascent to being the greatest power in the world by the mid-19th century. This is a good read. It focuses mainly on political issues, but also digresses into societal changes, which I found less interesting. If you want to get a good introduction to English monarchs, this one is very good.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-02-20 00:00:00 James Reid A fascinating time in the history of England that affected every Western European country. Well written and easy to understand, it covers complex layers of British society, from the top to bottom, at a time of economic and religious upheaval.