The New York Times Book Review - Roger Boylan
[The] splendid third volume of Ackroyd's projected six-volume history of England…Ackroyd keeps things moving briskly along by alternating between weighty matters of state and vignettes of everyday life. An accomplished novelist, he has an eye for the revelatory digression.
Publishers Weekly
09/22/2014
Agitation was in the air throughout 17th-century England, and Ackroyd skillfully captures the feelings and events of the time in this third volume of his history of England (following Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I). The narrative opens with the merging of England and Scotland under one monarch, James I, whose massive gluttony Ackroyd contrasts with the dire finances of the country as a whole. There existed a “gulf between king and country,” as the author describes it, which only widened during the reign of James I’s successor, Charles I, due to wars with Spain and France. Following great financial distress and a civil war that pitted royalists against parliamentarians, Charles I was executed. While Scotland declared Charles II king, England’s parliament steered the country into what became the “Commonwealth of England,” with Oliver Cromwell as “Lord Protector.” In 1660, the monarchy was restored with Charles II on the throne. Ackroyd ends at the Glorious Revolution—when William III (William of Orange) overthrew James II after yet more religious upheaval—having left no stone unturned. Addressing politics, religion, court life, scandal, science, literature, and art, the depth and scope of Ackroyd’s account is impressive, and it is as accessible as it is rich. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
Splendid . . . Ackroyd keeps things moving briskly along by alternating between weighty matters of state and vignettes of everyday life. An accomplished novelist, he has an eye for the revelatory digression.” —The New York Times Book Review
“An exhilarating experience. Readers will come away from this book with an appreciation of how and why the cataclysmic events of seventeenth century England shaped world history for the next two centuries.” —NPR.org
“Appropriately detailed, beautifully written story of the Stuarts' rise and fall - will leave readers clamoring for the further adventures awaiting England in the 18th century.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“Ackroyd is a wonderful storyteller, and he has a wonderful and vitally important story to tell... providing excellent insights into the character and motivations of several of the prime movers of events... He eloquently describes the development of literature, the ongoing religious controversies, and the evolving political sympathies and their effects on the lives and opinions of ordinary citizens.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The depth and scope of Ackroyd's account is impressive, and it is as accessible as it is rich.” —Publishers Weekly
“In the same vein as the previous two volumes, Rebellion does more than lay out the facts of history. Spliced between the chapters that move the chronological history forward are vignettes on daily life in 17th-century England, covering the theatres, literature, politics and economics, and the emerging popular press, as well as contemporary analysis of historical events. This is a fascinating look at life in England during tumultuous times.” —Shelf Awareness
“Peter Ackroyd is energetic and gifted enough to have mastered his sources and produced a sparklingly fresh account of Tudor England. . . . Ackroyd has a wonderful eye for the telling detail, cameos that stick in the mind.” —The Weekly Standard on Tudors
“Peter Ackroyd's love of his subject shines through every page. This is a thrilling story that will delight readers interested in this period.” —San Francisco Book Review on Tudors
“Ackroyd writes with such lightly worn erudition and a deceptive ease that he never fails to engage.” —The Telegraph (UK) on Tudors
“Superbly accessible and readable.” —Financial Times (UK) on Tudors
“Relaxed, unpretentious, and accessible.” —The New York Times Book Review on Foundation
“Ackroyd's trademark insight and wit, and the glorious interconnectedness of all things, permeate each page.” —Observer (UK) on Foundation
“Ackroyd brings delightful but revealing details of the lives of the people from the past into the present.” —Sunday Express (UK) on Foundation
“An extraordinary book . . . Peter Ackroyd is arguably the most talented and prolific writer working in Britain today.” —Daily Express (UK) on Foundation
Library Journal - Audio
05/15/2015
The reign of the Stuart kings of England was by all reckoning tumultuous. Ackroyd's (London Under) sumptuous account of 17th-century England features the House of Stuart providing the guiding hand. The book is a time machine, transporting the listener back to a world now very foreign yet containing flashes of such recognizable features as parliamentary government and global trade. Some of the most calamitous moments of English history are displayed. The period was marred by a toxic mix of religious zealotry, political factionalism, scandal, and threatened royal prerogatives. Three convulsive civil wars were fought. Danger and confusion abounded. Despite the harshness and uncertainty, England did witness the flowering of art and science; William Shakespeare, John Donne, Isaac Newton, Thomas Hobbes, and John Milton were all active at this time. The work offers full-bodied characters, crisp and tense bits of dialog, and beautifully detailed descriptions of manners and cultural attitudes. Clive Chafer does an admirable job voicing the various personages great and small. VERDICT This compelling story full of incident will be enjoyed by all history lovers, especially those with an interest in England.—Denis Frias, Mississauga Lib. Syst., Ont.
FEBRUARY 2015 - AudioFile
Ackroyd’s history of Britain in the 1600s has many dramatic high points, but its audio delivery proves wearisome. Clive Chafer is an accomplished narrator, with many fine titles to his credit. But he’s locked into a professional style that puts heavy weight onto the closing word in a sentence, clause, or phrase, and, once noticed, this practice becomes more and more distracting, and soon monotonous. Possibly this is a matter of taste, and another ear will hear him differently. Ackroyd’s history proves to be fascinating and well told, and can be recommended on its own merits. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-08-06
Biographer, historian and novelist Ackroyd (Three Brothers, 2014, etc.) continues his History of England series with the third of six proposed volumes. What makes the author so special is that he relates history as it once was told by the bards. Ackroyd tells us not just the history, but the story behind it and the story as it might have been viewed at the time. This was a violent period of religious struggle, with countless groups vying to eliminate each other and all of them hating the Catholics. King James was so impressed by the wealth of England that he immediately set about spending just about every penny in the treasury. He relied mostly on the help of his favorites at court, particularly the Duke of Buckingham, who scoffed at Parliament's impeachment. The premature death of Henry, James' eldest and most Protestant son, left inept Charles to inherit the throne and continue the Stuart traditions of divine right and treating Parliament as his piggy bank. They just couldn't accept that the king might be subject to English common law. All this led up to the civil war, the beheading of Charles and the rise of Oliver Cromwell, who was a man with more power than any king and who ruled as an absolute military dictator. His death quickly brought Parliament together to reinstitute the House of Lords and the office of king in the person of Charles II. He and his brother, James II, clung to the Catholic religion, generally poor attitude toward Parliament and lots of devious plots, which inevitably led up to the Glorious Revolution. Oddly enough, during the reigns of the early Stuart kings, trade increased, shipbuilding peaked, coal production doubled, and the agricultural revolution laid the basis for the 18th-century's Industrial Revolution. Appropriately detailed, beautifully written story of the Stuarts' rise and fall—will leave readers clamoring for the further adventures awaiting England in the 18th century.
