In 1688 the Catholic James II was removed from the throne and replaced by Protestant monarchs, first William III, and then Mary. The importance of this "glorious revolution," long seen as a crucial shift in Britain from absolutism to constitutional monarchy, has recently been questioned by historians. This wide-ranging book takes a fresh look at the people and events of 1688. Challenging recent work and arguing that 1688 did see a decisive, though not inevitable, movement toward mixed, constitutional monarchy, Speck provides a vivid picture of politics and society in the Glorious Revolution. He explores the nature of the late Stuart monarchy, and its likely development without the "accident" of James II; the personality of James himself, and the significance of his flight; the nature of the conspiracy to invite William of Orange to England and place him on the throne; and the Revolution's constitutional importance and long-term social and religious implications.
Author
William Arthur Speck (born 1938) is a British historian specializing in late 17th and 18th-century British and American history. Speck was educated at Bradford Grammar School and The Queen's College, Oxford, gaining a BA in 1960 and a D.Phil in 1966. He is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Leeds and a Special Professor in the School of English Studies at the University of Nottingham where he co-convenes an Interdisciplinary Eighteenth-Century Research Seminar.
