Table of Contents

Contents: Preface; The House of Orange on the death of William II; Youth (1650-66); The path to power; The year of catastrophe, 1672; The task and the tools; The Peace of Nijmegen (1672-78); The Twenty Years' Truce of Regensburg (1679-84); James II, William III and Louis XIV (1685-88); The Glorious Revolution (1688-89); William III as King of England (1689-1702); War or peace? (1689-1702); William III and Scotland (1660-1702); William III in Ireland; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author

Dr Wout Troost is an Independent Scholar from The Netherlands.

Reviews

'... the best account that we have to date, being particularly strong on the international aspects and in its thorough use of the literature in half a dozen languages. No-one interested in any aspect of William III's reign or of the Glorious Revolution will be able to dispense with it. Troost is splendidly judicious and shrewd in assessing William's notoriously difficult and elusive personality.' Professor Jonathan Israel, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. 'Troost's book is now the best available introduction to the life and especially the political career of William III. It stands out in particular from other biographies in English of the king-stadholder through the expert account which it provides of his Dutch experiences before 1688, without which neither his motivations nor his view of the world can be properly understood. Overall, this is an interesting, concise and well balanced biography, chiefly political in focus but with a notably sensible discussion of William's supposed homosexuality.' Dr J.L. Price, Reader in History, University of Hull. 'In many respects this is the book scholars of late Stuart Britain have been waiting for... few texts have made available the fruits of recent continental researches into William's career in the United Provinces and so allowed English-speaking historians to understand his upbringing, resources and formative experiences in the Netherlands. Wout Troost's clear and judicious narrative of William's life supplies this need.' Journal of Ecclesiastical History ’Troost's balanced approach has resulted in what will probably prove to be the standard biography of William III for the foreseeable future.’ Journal of Modern History ’Troost's book asks questions that should be asked of both the Stadholder-King and his historians. It presents a sound narrative from an interesting perspective.’ H-Albion