A Nation of Change and Novelty: Radical Politics, Religion, and Literature in Seventeenth-Century England

Abstract

In this collection, Christopher Hill ranges broadly over the political and literary terrain of the 17th century, reflecting his conviction in the importance of the English Revolution as a decisive event in the histories of England and Europe, and reinstating its significance within the larger context of world history. Whilst recent historians have tended to play down the historical significance of the English Revolution, Christopher Hill emphasizes it as one of the most important events in English and European history. He explores not only its causes but also its long-term consequences, basing it both in a broad social context and viewing it as a necessary condition of England's having nurtured the first Industrial Revolution. In re-locating the importance of a phenomenon which historians have tended to work to subvert or underplay, Christopher Hill places particular emphasis on the significance of contemporary literary and theatrical documents. He subjects to new scrutiny not only parliamentary documents and manifestos but also literary and dramatic material, thus setting political events in the full context of the social activities and problems of the time.