Product Description

John Goodwin (1594-1665) was one of the most prolific and controversial writers of the English Revolution; his career illustrates some of the most important intellectual developments of the seventeenth century. Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, he became vicar of a flagship Puritan parish in the City of London. During the 1640s, he wrote in defence of the civil war, the army revolt, Pride's Purge, and the regicide, only to turn against Cromwell in 1657. Finally, repudiating religious uniformity, he became one of England's leading tolerationists. This richly contextualised study, the first modern intellectual biography of Goodwin, explores the whole range of writings produced by him and his critics. Amongst much else, it shows that far from being a maverick individualist, Goodwin enjoyed a wide readership, pastored one of the London's largest Independent congregations and was well connected to various networks. Hated and admired by Anglicans, Presbyterians and Levellers, he provides us with a new perspective on contemporaries like Richard Baxter and John Milton. It will be of special interest to students of Puritanism, the English Revolution, and early modern intellectual history. JOHN COFFEY is Reader in Early Modern History at the University of Leicester.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2276722 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 350 pages

Review
A big, richly detailed book. CHURCH HISTORYAn exemplary intellectual biography which is rich in detail and highly sophisticated in its account of theological difference in seventeenth-century England. H-NET REVIEWSCoffey is a superb writer and an authority on mid-seventeenth-century British history.... (He) has written the first full-length biography of Goodwin since the nineteenth century, and this study may well prove as durable as its predecessor. RENAISSANCE QUARTERLYA full, scholarly and clear account.an extremely valuable narrative, which casts wider light on the 1640s and 1650s. ARCHIVESA valuable contribution to our understanding of the religious disputes of the Civil War and Interregnum. (...) A well-argued and well-documented study. JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIESCoffey skilfully details the life of this important figure within the broader context of contemporary print culture and the many social and religious networks that were key to the Puritan Revolution. ANGLICAN AND EPISCOPAL HISTORY

JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES
A valuable contribution to our understanding of the religious disputes of the Civil War and Interregnum.

Review
Coffey skilfully details the life of this important figure within the broader context of contemporary print culture and the many social and religious networks that were key to the Puritan Revolution.

Customer Reviews

A Goodwin Biography, at last!
If you read about the English civil war, you are bound to come across John Goodwin eventually. He was at the corner of every debate, the side of every issue. Goodwin was a radical London clergyman who participated in furious quarrels with almost everyone who mattered, and many who didn't. He was close to Oliver Cromwell, to John Milton and to many others who are more famous. Goodwin has deserved a good biography for a long time- and John Coffey who has written well about toleration amongst other things is the perfect person to supply it. This is a detailed exposition of Goodwin's place in the seventeenth century- both in debates about theology (Goodwin was a puritan arminian!), in discussions of politics (in which Goodwin backed the revolution) and in London politics. Coffey has both the eye for a source and the ability to rummage in archives- his book is not easy but it is interesting and he has managed to get to details that most historians would not know about. In that sense Coffey has provided us with a good new account of an important man- as a contribution to the field this book will prove invaluable.