In 68, England, Scotland and Ireland looked on as yet another monarch was ripped violently

from the throne. I think people are getting used to it. Just think about the previous,

what, nearly a hundred years. Rebel Catholics tried to blow up James I of England. His son Charles,

well, famously he'd been swept from power during the civil wars, and he was eventually

executed. Cromwell had crushed various attempts to bring down his regime. His son had been

removed from power by the military. Charles II, well, he had clung on, despite the odd armed

revolt. But now, in88, his little brother, James

the second, having recently seen off one invasion by a nephew, now faced a second massive invasion

by a second nephew, William of Orange. He was James' nephew, but he was also his son-in-law,

because William had married James's

oldest daughter, Mary. And in November of 1688, William landed in Devon, marched up the country,

and James's regime collapsed. William was eventually put on the throne in an exciting bout of

constitutional innovation. Alongside his wife, Mary, they were made joint

sovereigns to please those who wanted the formal line of succession respected. Afterwards,

they called this the glorious revolution, but is that just Brits trying to put a positive

spin on yet another invasion, another king deposed, another cycle of chaotic politics. Or was this a fresh

new beginning? The start of Britain's almost unique journey to the present, a story of

constitutional monarchy and great power, and great economic, political, and military power. This podcast is a story of

68. We're going to talk about the background. We're going to talk about the revolution itself.

We're going to talk of the aftermath. And we're basically going to be a sense of just how extraordinarily

unlikely it would have seemed at the time that in the decades to come, Britain would establish

itself as a dominant global power.

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