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THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION OF 1688 by Maurice Ashley

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION OF 1688

By

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1967
Publisher: Scribners

The revolution in question deposed King James II of England and put his nephew and brother-in-law, Prince William of Orange, on the throne. Ashley rejects two prevalent views of this upheaval: as a triumph for constitutional law and liberty, or as a manifestation of slow shifts in class structure. Instead he approaches it in terms of the kings themselves, their ideals, self-interests and decisions. This old, familiar kind of emphasis gets a new twist: James isn't the villain after all. Stupid yet admirable, he ""sacrificed the throne for his policy of religious toleration."" What the reader gets is a blow-by-blow account of a royal power struggle, intramural and international. Not to be confused with English history. For a small audience, by a distinguished Cambridge student of the period, a graceful study whose biases are forthright and piquant.