Description
Book SynopsisAs we search for greater understanding of the origins of liberalism, religious toleration, and modern democratic thought, Mark Jendrysik''s timely work examines the political and religious ideals that buttressed the first ''modern'' revolution. Explaining the English Revolution studies the years 1649 to 1653, from regicide to the establishment of the Cromwellian Commonwealth, during which time English writers ''took stock'' of a disordered England stripped of the traditional ideas of political, moral, and social order and considered the possibilities for a politically and religiously reordered state. Jendrysik provides_through a rich comparative analysis of the work of Thomas Hobbes and his contemporaries Filmer, Winstanley, Cromwell, and Milton_a new understanding of the Civil War-era intelligentsia''s assessment of the crisis in the body politic and their varied prescriptions and plans for a new post-revolutionary England.
Trade ReviewExplaining the English Revolution is both an accessible and engaging introduction to the political thought of the period and a lively challenge to the scholarship on Winstanley, Milton, Cromwell, Filmer, and Hobbes. Professor Jendrysik skillfully explicates the varieties of disorder perceived and propagated from 1649-1653. His careful analysis of contested concepts such as kingship, faction, freedom, and hierarchy insightfully adds to our understanding of the individual authors and to comparative studies in the field. -- Amy McCready, Bucknell University
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: The Disordering of Order Chapter 2 Gerrard Winstanley: The Oppression of Covetousness Chapter 3 John Milton: Tyranny and Revolution Chapter 4 Oliver Cromwell: Factions, Forcers of Conscience and Civil War Chapter 5 Robert Filmer: The Anarchy of Natural Liberty Chapter 6 Thomas Hobbes: Divided Sovereignty and Civil War Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Ordering of Disorder
