8/8: The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 Hardcover – by Jonathan Healey (Author)

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Books, Society & Culture, Arts

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 December 2024

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

8/8: The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603-1689 Hardcover – 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.

1675 CHARLES II

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Once upon a time, Amazon Music met audiobooks and listeners everywhere rejoiced.
0:05.8	Oh yeah.
0:06.6	Because now they could listen to one audiobook title a month from an enormous library of popular audiobook
0:12.2	titles including Romantasy, autobiographies, true crime, and more.
0:19.3	Suddenly listeners didn't mind sitting in traffic or even missing their flight.
0:23.4	Amazon Music Unlimited now includes Audible. No way. Download the Amazon Music app now to start listening.
0:29.3	Terms apply. I'm John Batchel with Professor Jonathan Healy, whose wonderful new book is filled with
0:35.7	stories and imaginary moments that we now can visit from
0:40.7	the 21st century and say so that's where john locke came from that's where an understanding
0:46.6	of government representing the people came from and that's where trouble comes from when a man
0:54.0	james the second the younger brother of Charles II,
0:57.7	decide somewhere in the 1660s to convert to Catholicism, perhaps surrounded by Catholics on
1:03.5	the mainland, knowing that if he was ever to ascend to the throne, this would introduce
1:08.8	contretemps again into his native land. Well, here it is.
1:13.5	The moment that we can anticipate, there is rumors that James has converted, but with the death of
1:20.0	his brother, this is in the 1680s, the death of his brother, James I becomes the king of England,
1:26.5	and he's been leader of the fleet.
1:28.7	He's had charge.
1:30.1	He's a very good warrior, very good combat leader.
1:33.6	But he resigns from the Navy because he won't swear,
1:36.9	it won't take an oath that would reveal that would violate his Catholicism.
1:42.8	And Jonathan, I come to this because James II is a less well-known figure, Charles II, the Restoration.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

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.