The Army Of James Ii 1685 1688

Between James' accession in February 1685 and flight in December 1688 the British Armies increased four fold (the English, Scots and Irish Armies were still separate institutions and were to remain so until the early 18th Century, in the case of the Scots, and the early 19th Century in the case of the Irish); from a small force of little more than ceremonial and policing use to a fully-fledged Army with all of its necessary supporting arms and services. Respected historian Correlli Barnett wrote: "It might well be said that if the British royal standing army was in fact founded at one given time, it was between 1685 and 1688, and that James II was the army's creator." James himself said his Army had "...the reputation of being the best paid, the best equipped and the most sightly troops of any in Europe." At the time there were political complaints about illegality of a "new standing Army" with a "new Cromwellian military dictatorship" (and on a point of law a standing army was still illegal), in 1689 the new King, William III, kept James' Army in being and within a few years it was to become the Army which led the victories at Blenheim and elsewhere of the Great Duke of Marlborough, who had himself been a General in James' Army. It has been said that amongst William's reasons for accepting the British Crowns was a fear that the British Army would serve in alliance with Louis XIV against him. Despite this, James' part in the creation of the British Army is often deliberately overlooked or ignored. The political aspects of James' reign, and thus of the Army, are well covered in numerous works but this book looks at the creation of the enlarged Armies of England, Scotland and Ireland - their uniforms and flags, organization and weapons, their drill and their strength, their pay and their Staff. Researched primarily from contemporary documents and manuscripts, including those in the rarely accessed Royal Library at Royal Archives at Windsor, it will go a long way to restoring these years, and the last Stuart King, to their true importance in the creation of the British Army.

Michael Mullett reconsiders, in the light of recent r attlee's* and of altering perceptions of the English past, the events of the crucial years 1678-1688; from the Restoration era through the exclusion crisis, and subsequent reign of James to the `Glorious Revolution' of 1688. He focuses on the central role of James, Duke of York, and from 1685-1688, King of England, but locates the growing difficulties of his reign within the wider context of political and religious trends.

Catalogue of the National Army Museum's Special Exhibition which traces the history and development of the British Army from the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 to the Duke of Marlborough's victory at Blenheim in 1704.

In 1688, a group of leading politicians invited the Dutch prince William of Orange over to England to challenge the rule of the catholic James II. When James's army deserted him he fled to France, leaving the throne open to William and Mary. During the following year a series of bills were passed which many believe marked the triumph of constitutional monarchy as a system of government. In this radical new interpretation of the Glorious Revolution, Edward Vallance challenges the view that it was a bloodless coup in the name of progress and wonders whether in fact it created as many problems as it addressed. Certainly in Scotland and Ireland the Revolution was characterised by warfare and massacre. Beautifully written, full of lively pen portraits of contemporary characters and evocative of the increasing climate of fear at the threat of popery, this new book fills a gap in the popular history market and sets to elevate Edward Vallance to the highest league of popular historians.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 is a story of intrigue, plot and counter-plot, religious rivalry and nationalist fervour. It tells of the stubborn and bigoted king, James II, in conflict with his subjects – a conflict in which he was finally forced to put aside his crown, making way for his daughter, Mary, and her husband William of Orange. Less than thirty years after Charles II had been restored to the throne, a king was once more deposed (although this time with rather less bloodshed),effectively creating the form of government that we have today.After the Revolution it was no longer possible for British monarchs to ride roughshod over the wishes of their people or to impose religion upon them. Yet, as well as creating a constitutional monarchy, the Revolution also led in time to such events as the Jacobite Rebellions in Scotland and the Orange Order marches in Northern Ireland. This book tells the story of those momentous days and sets them against the turbulent backdrop of seventeenth-century life.