Imprint
- John Murray
- John Murray
Prose: non-fiction, British & Irish history, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700
In sixteen hundred and sixty-six . . .
1666 was a watershed year for England. The outbreak of the Great Plague, the eruption of the second Dutch War and the Great Fire of London all struck the country in rapid succession and with devastating repercussions.
Shedding light on these dramatic events, historian Rebecca Rideal reveals an unprecedented period of terror and triumph. Based on original archival research and drawing on little-known sources, 1666: PLAGUE, WAR AND HELLFIRE takes readers on a thrilling journey through a crucial turning point in English history, as seen through the eyes of an extraordinary cast of historical characters.
While the central events of this significant year were ones of devastation and defeat, 1666 also offers a glimpse of the incredible scientific and artistic progress being made at that time, from Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity to Robert Hooke's microscopic wonders. It was in this year that John Milton completed PARADISE LOST, Frances Stewart posed for the now-iconic image of Britannia, and a young architect named Christopher Wren proposed a plan for a new London - a stone phoenix to rise from the charred ashes of the old city.
With flair and style, 1666 shows a city and a country on the cusp of modernity, and a series of events that forever altered the course of history.
Praise for 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire
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With a cinematic eye for detail Rideal throws us into the action . . . Rideal's style is vivid and fluent . . . Rideal's London pulses with humanity . . . It is Rideal's vivid and confident style, teamed with meticulous research and a curiosity for the quotidian that makes 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire a memorable, gripping and very satisfying read - Historia
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An impressively vivid account of an extraordinary piece of England's history. Rideal is particularly good on the great set pieces - the plague, the fire and (especially) the naval battles - which she brings to dramatic life with telling details. Other writers have covered the same ground, but Rideal has drilled further than most into the scholarly literature and contemporary sources, and she deploys what she has found to great effect - The Times
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A book firmly anchored in the grain of contemporary accounts, sparking with the crackle of first-hand reports - Guardian
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Sympathetic and sharp-eyed ... an enjoyable book about an exciting period of history - Daily Telegraph
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Accessible and entertaining . . . a keen eye for engaging anecdote and historical personality - The Spectator
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1666 is described brilliantly . . . a rollicking new book - Evening Standard
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Bound to reveal secrets you won't have heard before - History Revealed
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Rebecca Rideal's gripping and beautifully written account knits together a series of tumultuous events. She skilfully traces the relationship between them, and deftly interweaves the lives of ordinary people with those of kings, scientists and men of letters . . . Rideal vividly presents the scale of the crisis, but also brings to light some of the poignant individual tragedies. This same humanity runs through her account of the Great Fire. Rideal, a natural story-teller, brings it to life in an extraordinarily vivid way - BBC History Magazine
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