Publisher Description

Revolution, the fourth volume of Peter Ackroyd's enthralling History of England begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory.In it, Ackroyd takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo.Late Stuart and Georgian England marked the creation of the great pillars of the English state. The Bank of England was founded, as was the stock exchange, the Church of England was fully established as the guardian of the spiritual life of the nation and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation with responsibilities and duties far beyond those of the monarch. It was a revolutionary era in English letters, too, a time in which newspapers first flourished and the English novel was born. It was an era in which coffee houses and playhouses boomed, gin flowed freely and in which shops, as we know them today, began to proliferate in our towns and villages. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal.

Notes

The fourth instalment in this award-winning novelist's History Of England series, it begins in 1688 with a revolution and ends in 1815 with a famous victory.

Back Cover

Revolution continues Peter Ackroyd's enthralling retelling of England's history. It takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution in 1688 to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.Late Stuart and Georgian England saw the creation of the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange. It was the era in which the Church of England was fully established and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation, rather than the monarch. It was an age of coffee houses and Gin Lane, and of newspapers and novels. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal.'Beautifully written . . . fluent, intelligent and informative' Spectator 'Coherent and subtle . . . delivered with a pleasing lightness of touch' BBC History Magazine 'Sublime . . . chronicles in grim detail a time of cruel magnificence' The Times

Flap

Revolution continues Peter Ackroyd's enthralling retelling of England's history. It takes readers from William of Orange's accession following the Glorious Revolution in 1688 to the Regency, when the flamboyant Prince of Wales ruled in the stead of his mad father, George III, and England was - again - at war with France, a war that would end with the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. Late Stuart and Georgian England saw the creation of the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange. It was the era in which the Church of England was fully established and parliament became the sovereign body of the nation, rather than the monarch. It was an age of coffee houses and Gin Lane, and of newspapers and novels. But it was also a time of extraordinary and unprecedented technological innovation, which saw England utterly and irrevocably transformed from a country of blue skies and farmland to one of soot and steel and coal. 'Beautifully written . . . fluent, intelligent and informative' Spectator 'Coherent and subtle . . . delivered with a pleasing lightness of touch' BBC History Magazine 'Sublime . . . chronicles in grim detail a time of cruel magnificence' The Times

Author Biography

Peter Ackroyd is an award-winning novelist, as well as a broadcaster, biographer, poet and historian. He is the author of the acclaimed non-fiction bestsellers, Thames: Sacred River and London: The Biography. He holds a CBE for services to literature and lives in London.

Table of Contents

Section - i: List of illustrations Chapter - 1: What do you think of predestination now? Chapter - 2: A bull or a bear? Chapter - 3: The idol of the age Chapter - 4: Hay day Chapter - 5: The prose of gold Chapter - 6: Waiting for the day Chapter - 7: The great Scriblerus Chapter - 8: The Germans are coming! Chapter - 9: Bubbles in the air Chapter - 10: The invisible hand Chapter - 11: Consuming passions Chapter - 12: The What D'Ye Call It? Chapter - 13: The dead ear Chapter - 14: Mother Geneva Chapter - 15: The pack of cards Chapter - 16: What shall I do? Chapter - 17: Do or die Chapter - 18: The violists Chapter - 19: A call for liberty Chapter - 20: Here we are again! Chapter - 21: The broad bottom Chapter - 22: The magical machines Chapter - 23: Having a tea party Chapter - 24: The schoolboy Chapter - 25: The steam machines Chapter - 26: On a darkling plain Chapter - 27: Fire and moonlight Chapter - 28: The red bonnet Chapter - 29: The mad kings Chapter - 30: The beast and the whore Chapter - 31: A Romantic tale Chapter - 32: Pleasures of peace Section - ii: Further reading Index - iii: Index

Review

Ackroyd is a fascinating mix of a 19th-century narrative historian and modern social analyst. Elements of thisbook seem very old-fashioned and formal - in a good way. Yet the author eschews the detached third person preferred by stuffy professionals, favouring instead a more intimate "you" that brings the reader into the dark alleys of industrial towns to sniff the urine, vomit and suppurating sores of industrial England. Those perfect sentences are scattered throughout. -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *

Promotional

The fourth instalment in Peter Ackroyd's History of England series.

Review Quote

Ackroyd is a fascinating mix of a 19th-century narrative historian and modern social analyst. Elements of thisbook seem very old-fashioned and formal - in a good way. Yet the author eschews the detached third person preferred by stuffy professionals, favouring instead a more intimate "you" that brings the reader into the dark alleys of industrial towns to sniff the urine, vomit and suppurating sores of industrial England. Those perfectsentences are scattered throughout.

Promotional "Headline"

The fourth instalment in Peter Ackroyd's History of England series.

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