Return of the King. The Restoration of Charles II

Great Britain: Sutton. Hardback. First Edition. Return of the King. This book challenges the accepted wisdom that the Restoration was inevitable. At Cromwell's death in September 1658 the Cavaliers were a defeated party. In the following twenty-one months it was the failure of Cromwell's followers to unite, rather than the success of the Royalists, that led to the collapse of the Protectorate. The New Model Army had proved invincible, and it was not until its leading generals, in particular John Lambert and George Monck, fell out, that Royalist fortunes began to revive. The essentially passive role played by the king meant that he owed his Restoration to his former enemies, a cause of much bitterness among Cavaliers in the years to come. This book is full of sharp character portraits: the king and his chief adviser Hyde, striving to keep the Royalist flame alight, the ineffectual Richard Cromwell trying to control his leading generals, intriguing Fleetwood, ambitious Lambert, crafty Monck, and the old Parliamentarian Republicans Hesilrige and Vane. All come vividly to life as they struggle for supreme power. As England descended into anarchy, Charles II emerged as the one figure who could save his countrymen from the rule of bullying soldiers and religious fanatics. Illustrated. 252 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions, Reference books ,and all types of Academic Literature.) . Fine. Cloth. First Edition. 2007.