![]() ![]() ![]() Austin Woolrych allows himself space, for example, in a chapter addressing the sense of crisis prevailing in the autumn of 1640, to fill in a retrospective survey of the structure of Irish politics under Charles I. Within these parts there are chapter divisions that are not wholly chronologically driven. The last three parts tackle respectively the commonwealth, the Oliverian protectorate, and the complexities of the collapse of 1658-60. Thus, the reign of Charles I to 1640 is dealt with fairly briskly in part 1, "war in three kingdoms, 1640-1646" in part 2, the post-war maneuverings and second civil war in part 3. The author has divided the period into six parts, shaped not by mere chronology, but by the logic of the political dynamic he detects at work. It represents a summation of half a century's reflection on a complex period of British history, and lives up to the claim implied in the title that Britain and not England is under scrutiny. Austin Woolrych has given his book a title suitable for a textbook, but this blockbuster of a study is much more than a survey of the period. ![]()
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