Table of Contents

Preface
1: 'How to Reigne Well'
Part I: JAMES VI AND I
2: James VI
3: A Stranger in the Land
4: Settling the Affairs of Religion
5: 'One Good Steward Would Put All in Order'
6: 'A True Love Knot Knit Fast'
7: The Bohemian Revolt and the Crisis of the Early 1620s
Part II: CHARLES I
8: A Prince 'Bred in Parliaments'
9: Halcyon Days or Perilous Times?
10: Contumacious Troublers and Disquieters of the Peace
11: Ireland and Scotland under Charles I
12: The British Crisis
13: The Grievances of the Commonwealth
14: The Irish Rebellion, the Grand Remonstrance, and the Drift to War
15: The Rise of Royalism
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Tim Harris is Munro-Goodwin-Wilkinson Professor in European History at Brown University. He is the author of numerous essays, articles, and books on British history in the early modern period, including most recently Restoration: Charles II and His Kingdoms 1660-1685 (2005) and Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720 (2006).

Reviews

`Tim Harris brings a wonderful freshness, directness, and authority to this account of the reigns of two contentious monarchs. Combining depth and breadth of reading, he offers much to the specialist and to someone new to the period.'
John Morrill, University of Cambridge, and editor of The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor and Stuart Britain
`An up-to-date overview of the politics of these crucial years, informed by the most influential writing in this area as well as Tim Harris's own expertise. It is leavened with dry wit and fresh examples: a thorough account of where the centre of gravity of academic opinion now lies and range of possible interpretations around the centre.'
Michael Braddick, Times Literary Supplement
`... an outstandingly successful book... producing a summary of four decades of discussion that is well-written and well-researched enough to look consensual...It is a thoroughly convincing portrait, fluently sustained through such a large and readable book, and as such deserves to take its place as the standard student text on the period.'
Gary Day, The Times Higher Education
`[Harris] has written one of the best accounts available of what led to war ... He has produced one of the most comprehensive and multifaceted accounts of the time of his generation'
Jerry Brotton, Sunday Times
`For anyone wanting a succinct and reliable guide to the impact of the Stuart government in all its constituent territories, this book will henceforth be the starting point of choice Rebellion is a work of ambitious range, elegant concision and unfailingly, stimulating argument.'
John Adamson, Literary Review
`It is a thoroughly convincing portrait, fluently sustained through such a large and readable book, and as such deserves to take its place as the standard student text on the period.'
Ronald Hutton, Times Higher Education
`Harris provides a thrilling narrative with plenty of solid history and some surprises along the way.'
Steve Craggs, Northern Echo
`Formidably large and well-researched.'
Spectator
`Harris brings an enormous amount of information and scholarship to bear on the tiniest of moments ... Harris is always a precise guide and his sensible and weighty conclusions are well argued.'
Jerome de Groot, History Today
`This is a scholarly and thoughtful book. Harris is at pains to consider both sides of any argument and produces nuanced and balanced arguments ... definitely rewarding'
John Miller, History