5/8: The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 11, 2023. by Jonathan Healey (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2023
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
@Batchelorshow
5/8: The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 11, 2023. by Jonathan Healey (Author)
https://www.amazon.com/Blazing-World-History-Revolutionary-1603-1689/dp/0593318358
The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics. In fiery, plague-ridden London, in coffee shops and alehouses, new ideas were forged that were angry, populist, and almost impossible for monarchs to control.
But the story of this century is less well known than it should be. Myths have grown around key figures. People may know about the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London, but the Civil War is a half-remembered mystery to many. And yet the seventeenth century has never seemed more relevant. The British constitution is once again being bent and contorted, and there is a clash of ideologies reminiscent of when Roundhead fought Cavalier.
The Blazing World is the story of this strange, twisting, fascinating century. It shows a society in sparkling detail. It was a new world of wealth, creativity, and daring curiosity, but also of greed, pugnacious arrogance, and colonial violence.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | At TFL, we're making journeys safer for everyone, and that includes improving safety on London's roads. |
| 0:07.4 | That's why we and London boroughs are lowering more speed limits to 20 miles per hour, |
| 0:12.3 | because 20 miles per hour roads have already reduced collisions resulting in deaths or |
| 0:16.8 | serious injuries by 24%. That is how we're making journeys in London safer and brighter for everyone. |
| 0:24.8 | Such TFL improvement plan to the Mayor of London and TFL every journey matters. |
| 0:35.3 | This is CBS Eye on the World with John Bachelor. Here's John Bachelor. |
| 0:42.0 | Continuing with Associate Professor of Social History at Oxford University, Jonathan Healey, |
| 0:47.8 | his new book The Blazing World is a new history of revolutionary England, |
| 0:52.3 | 1603 to 1689. It is now 1646. Charles I, the region of England and Ireland, this is everything we |
| 1:02.6 | understand, the power of the King, surrenders to the Scots called the Covenantters, |
| 1:08.4 | because he's being pursued by the new model army led by Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. |
| 1:15.2 | Jonathan, we go immediately to the personalities of these leaders of the new model army, |
| 1:21.9 | because that will be a determinative of this regicide upon us. What is the new model army and |
| 1:28.8 | what is Fairfax to it? What is Cromwell to it at this point? Thank you. |
| 1:33.7 | Well, the new model army was the attempt by Parliament to reorganize their forces because they had |
| 1:41.5 | found themselves in a sort of winning position in the Civil War that had taken place and then |
| 1:47.6 | they blown it, they made a mess of it, and they decided that the part of the problem was that |
| 1:52.8 | the commanders, particularly the elves of Essex and the elves of Manchester, were not sufficiently |
| 1:58.3 | committed to full victory. They wanted to sort of win the battles against the King and then |
| 2:02.9 | go back to the negotiating table, whereas actually what needed to be done was the King |
| 2:06.8 | needed to be beaten completely in the battlefield. Essex and Manchester were seen as being too wet, |
| 2:13.6 | if you like. So Parliament basically had them fired and put in their place commanders who |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.