Bloomsbury,512pp,£25
Healey's popular history of ‘revolutionary England’ covers the reigns of the Stuart kings from 1603 to 1688. Paul Lay, writing in the , said that it ‘offers a thrilling panorama of, noted that ‘Healey's discussion of this weighty subject matter is leavened by his keen sense of humour and eye for the ribald anecdote’ as well as the inclusion of ‘salty 17th-century language.’ He found the book ‘zesty and gripping.’