The Growth Of Political Stability In England 1675 1725

In this path-breaking study, first published in 2000, Jonathan Scott argues that seventeenth-century English history was shaped by three processes. The first was destructive: that experience of political instability which contemporaries called 'our troubles'. The second was creative: its spectacular intellectual consequence in the English revolution. The third was reconstructive: the long restoration voyage toward safe haven from these terrifying storms. Driving the troubles were fears and passions animated by European religious and political developments. The result registered the impact upon fragile institutions of powerful beliefs. One feature of this analysis is its relationship of the history of events to that of ideas. Another is its consideration of these processes across the century as a whole. The most important is its restoration of this extraordinary English experience to its European context.

Thomas McGeary's book explores the relationship between Italian opera and British partisan politics in the era of George Frideric Handel.

A quarter of a century ago, Professor Peter Borsay identified a specifically urban phenomenon of cultural revival that took root in the late seventeenth century, leading to the flowering of a wide range of cultural forms and the extensive remodelling of the townscape along classically inspired lines. Borsay called this the ‘English Urban Renaissance’. These essays, including Borsay’s reflective and thought-provoking revisiting of his concept, offer a wide-ranging exploration of the continuing and still developing impact of the ‘English Urban Renaissance’ and investigate the wider impact of the concept beyond England. The essays reiterate the importance of provincial towns as hubs of economic, cultural and political activity and the strength and vitality of urban culture beyond the metropolis. They trace the development of urban culture over time in the light of the concept of ‘urban renaissance’, showing how urban townscapes and cultural life were transformed throughout the long eighteenth century. Together, they establish the continuing impact and importance of Borsay’s concept, demonstrate the breadth of its influence in the UK and beyond, and point to possible areas of research for the future.