Following a youth of poverty and bitter exile after his father's execution, the ousted king first challenged, then made his magnificent escape from, Cromwell's troops before he was eventually restored to his throne in triumph in 1660. Spanning his life both before and after the Restoration, Antonia Fraser's lively and fascinating biography captures all the vitality of the man and the expansiveness of the age.

Ronald Hutton is Britain's foremost historian of the English Restoration. His book The Restoration was hailed as "a real tour de force" by History, a work "to which all historians will have to refer," and immediately established itself as the definitive history of the period. Now, in Charles II, Hutton offers a comprehensive biography of the king who returned to England in triumph after the death of Cromwell, re-establishing the monarchy that continues to reign to this day. Hutton reveals the excitement and tragedy of Charles's youth, as the realm erupted into savage civil war, leading to the execution of his father King Charles I at the hands of the rebellious Parliament. His life turned into a long, desperate struggle to claim his crown, including a catastrophic invasion of Cromwell's England that ended in a lonely flight, as he hid in orchards, ditches, and the famous Boscobel Oak. Yet Charles persevered, and was finally recalled from exile by an exhausted nation in 1660. Charles emerges in this narrative as a "monarch in a masquerade," a charming, duplicitous, and astonishingly lucky king who spent less time governing than he did at play (when he wasn't hunting, racing, or sailing he was with one of a series of mistresses, producing seventeen acknowledged bastards). Hutton vividly depicts him as a colorful and often underhanded ruler, physically brave in battle, but a moral coward in religion--first he promised to become a Presbyterian for Scottish aid, then later offered to convert to Catholicism for French help, eventually alienating everyone. His reign endured catastrophe and unrest, from the plague and the Great Fire of London, to defeat at the hands of the Dutch, to Protestant hysteria about a Catholic plot to seize the throne, to the disastrous results of his own secret diplomacy. But Charles in his good fortune survived all of it, beautifully rebuilding London after the fire and firmly anchoring a monarchy whose future had once been bleak. Chosen as a main selection of the History Book Club, Charles II presents an unmatched account of the private life and dramatic public career of this fascinating king. This lively and comprehensive biography, written by a major historian of the Restoration period, captures the politics and personalities of a mometentous era.

How did the most wanted man in the country outwit the greatest manhunt in British history?

The Restoration era of the British monarchy covers the reigns of Charles II (1660-85) and James II (1685-8). This publication focuses on the art and culture of the Restoration court at this time, including the development of an 'English baroque' and the use of court ritual and art (especially decorative art) by both monarchs. This sumptuously illustrated book showcases the replacement crown jewels made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, his collection of Italian Old Master paintings, drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and the spectacular furnishings of the palaces of Whitehall and St James's.

When Charles I was executed, his son made it his role to seek out retribution, producing the biggest manhunt Britain had ever seen, one that would span Europe and America and would last for thirty years. When he ascended to the throne in 1660 as Charles II, his search for revenge intensified, with show trials in London and assassination squads scouring foreign countries. Many of the most senior figures in England were hanged, drawn and quartered; imprisoned for life; or consigned to a self-imposed exile, in constant fear of the assassin's bullet.History has painted the regicides and their supporters as fanatics, but among them were exceptional men, including John Milton, poetic genius and political propagandist; Oliver Cromwell's steely son-in-law, Henry Ireton; and the errant son of an earl, Algernon Sidney, whose writings helped inspire the founders of the American Revolution. Cromwell himself was subjected to the most bizarre symbolic revenge when—though long-dead—his body was disinterred and beheaded.Set in an age of intrigue and betrayal, The King's Revenge brings these remarkable figures vividly to life in an engrossing tale of ambition, double agents, and espionage.

Reproduktion des Originals: History of King Charles II of England von Jacob Abbott

The late seventeenth century was a period of extraordinary turbulence and political violence in Britain, the like of which has never been seen since. Beginning with the Restoration of the monarchy after the Civil War, this book traces the fate of the monarchy from Charles II's triumphant accession in 1660 to the growing discontent of the 1680s. Harris looks beyond the popular image of Restoration England revelling in its freedom from the austerity of Puritan rule under a merry monarch and reconstructs the human tragedy of Restoration politics where people were brutalised, hounded and exploited by a regime that was desperately insecure after two decade of civil war and republican rule.