|
A Gambling Man: Charles II and The Restoration
|
| List Price: | £25.00 |
| Price: | £14.47 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery on orders over £5. Details |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
Product Description
Charles II was thirty when he crossed the Channel in fine May weather in 1660. His Restoration was greeted with maypoles and bonfires, like spring after long years of Cromwell's rule. But there was no going back, no way he could 'restore' the old. Certainty had vanished. The divinity of kingship fled with his father's beheading. 'Honour' was now a word tossed around in duels. 'Providence' could no longer be trusted. As the country was rocked by plague, fire and war, people searched for new ideas by which to live. Exactly ten years later Charles would stand again on the shore at Dover, laying the greatest bet of his life in a secret deal with his cousin, Louis XIV. The Restoration decade was one of experiment: from the science of the Royal Society to the startling role of credit and risk, from the shocking licence of the court to the failed attempts at toleration of different beliefs. Negotiating all these, Charles, the 'slippery sovereign', layed odds. Yet while his grandeur, his court and his colourful sex life were on display, his true intentions lay hidden. "A Gambling Man" is a portrait of Charles II, exploring his elusive nature through the lens of these ten vital years - and a portrait of a vibrant, violent, pulsing world, in which the risks the king took forged the fate of the nation, on the brink of the modern world.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1589 in Books
- Published on: 2009-10-01
- Original language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 592 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
'"A Gambling Man" is a glorious romp of a book, filled with glittering anecdotes about Britain at its most glamorous and easy-going best ... A double biography of both a man and his age which gleams with a rare kind of intimacy. Here is popular history at its compelling best.' --***** Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday
'This is a terrific book, sparklingly written. Even the most ingrained republican ought to be enthralled.' --Salley Vickers, Independent
'This is panoramic history of a high order ... To understand how Charles learnt the difficult art of kingship, read this book.' --Graham Parry, Guardian
About the Author
Jenny Uglow grew up in Cumbria and now works in publishing. Her books include prize-winning biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell and William Hogarth. She lives in Canterbury.
