Description
Book SynopsisEngland''s Islands in a Sea of Troubles examines the jurisdictional disputes and cultural complexities in England''s relationship with its island fringe from Tudor times to the eighteenth century, and traces island privileges and anomalies to the present. It tells a dramatic story of sieges and battles, pirates and shipwrecks, prisoners and prophets, as kings and commoners negotiated the political, military, religious, and administrative demands of the early modern state. The Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man, Lundy, Holy Island and others emerge as important offshore outposts that long remained strange, separate, and perversely independent.England''s islands were difficult to govern, and were prone to neglect, yet their strategic value far outweighed their size. Though vulnerable to foreign threats, their harbours and castles served as forward bases of English power. In civil war they were divided and contested, fought over and occupied. Jersey and the Isles of Scilly served as refuges for royalists on the run. Charles I was held on the Isle of Wight. External authority was sometimes light of touch, as English governments used the islands as fortresses, commercial assets, and political prisons. London was often puzzled by the linguistic differences, tangled histories, and special claims of island communities. Though increasingly integrated within the realm, the islands maintained challenging peculiarities and distinctive characteristics. Drawing on a wide range of sources, and the insights of maritime, military, and legal scholarship, this is an original contribution to social, cultural, and constitutional history.
Trade ReviewThis is a richly detailed and thoughtful work which, in bringing these 'problematic outliers' to centre stage, helps us to see the history of seventeenth century England in a new way. * Richard Blakemore, The English Historical Review *
A welcome addition to the literature covering the islands associated with the English crown * Tim Thornton, Journal of British Studies *
This is an absorbing, comprehensive and fascinating account of England's offshore islands during the Stuart period * Kirsteen M. MacKenzie, Independent Researcher, The Seventeenth Century journal *
Cressy - one of the most prominent social historians of the early modern era - has produced a book that reframes our understanding of the Britain as an 'island nation', and in the process makes an vital contribution to both maritime and national history... Cressy is skilled at interweaving dry official documents with more colourful accounts that reveal the agendas and priorities of those who inhabited these islands....this book will do well with lay readers alongside academics. * James Davey, University of Exeter *
Historiographically astute and conceptually brilliant, it is a wonderful example of how maritime sujects offer new opportunities for intellectual discovery. * James Davey, The Mariner's Mirror *
Cressy's book is to be welcomed for its effective introduction of island narratives into the wider sphere of seventeenth-century history and the important reminders he offers of the complexity that continued to exist within these territories subject to the English crown around English and Welsh shores. His book will undoubtedly prompt further useful work on the communities which he describes and their many important interconnections. * Tim Thornton, La Societe Guernesiaise *
This is an absorbing, comprehensive and fascinating account of England's offshore islandsduring the Stuart period... This book is an important addition to the literature of Stuart Britain, highlighting a hitherto underexplored element in early modern British and Irish history. * Kirsteen M. MacKenzie, The Seventeenth Century *
England's Islands is based on prodigious research in scattered and varied sources, including manuscripts from fourteen libraries and archives, extensive printed primary sources, and an abundance of modern works. Cressy is a master at sniffing out fascinating anecdotes that enliven and enrich his narrative. [...] Cressy's book shows how even insular and peripheral places could help shape, and be shaped by, the early modern state * Catherine F. Patterson, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
England's Islands... is a great achievement. For a work addressing the 'margin', its scope and breadth of reference are remarkable. Cressy untangles for the reader the legal and constitutional complexities of the islands with a clarity and poise that never falters. He seamlessly integrates the wider history of the Civil War and the Restoration into the islands' story, vital if we are to truly understand its significance. * Dr John Bolland *
England's Islands identifies a set of locations where these might be fruitfully asked and will provide a solid foundation on which future studies might build. * Keith Pluymers, Journal of Modern History *
A foundational book due to Cressy's exhaustive archival work, his synthesis of multiple island histories, and his efforts to fit that synthesis into larger English and British stories ... In recent years, early modern British historians have increasingly turned toward empire, which should prompt new questions about how colonial expansion shaped and was shaped by transformations to law, society, and the state in early modern England. England's Islands identifies a set of locations where these might be fruitfully asked and will provide a solid foundation on which future studies might build. * Keith Pluymers, Journal of Modern History *
Table of ContentsPart I: Island Conditions 1: Island Insularities 2: Lundy: An Island Story 3: English Islands in the Norman Sea 4: Island Anomalies: The Isle of Man, Scilly, Wight, and Anglesey 5: Island Economies: Bounties of the Land and Sea Part II: Island Troubles 6: God's Islands 7: Fortress Islands 8: Refuge and Resistance in Times of Troubles 9: Interregnum Assets 10: Restoration Responsibilities Part III: Island Confinement 11: Puritan Martyrs in Island Prisons 12: Charles I on the 'Ile of Wait' 13: Island Prisoners of the English Republic 14: The Restoration Prison Archipelago 15: Islands in an Island Empire
