Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval That Inspired America's Founding Fathers
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About this ebook
In this work of popular history, Michael Barone brings the story of this unlikely and largely bloodless revolt to American readers and reveals that, without the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution may never have happened.
Unfolding in 1688–1689, Britain’s Glorious Revolution resulted in the hallmarks of representative government, guaranteed liberties, the foundations of global capitalism, and a foreign policy of opposing aggressive foreign powers. But as Barone shows, there was nothing inevitable about the Glorious Revolution. It sprang from the character of the English people and depended on the talents, audacity, and good luck of two men: William of Orange (later William III of England), who launched history’s last successful cross-channel inva sion, and John Churchill, an ancestor of Winston, who commanded the forces of the deposed James II but crossed over to support William one fateful November night.
The story of the Glorious Revolution is a rich and riveting saga of palace intrigue, loyalty and shocking betrayal, and bold political and military strategizing. With narrative drive, a sure command of historical events, and unforgettable portraits of kings, queens, soldiers, parliamentarians, and a large cast of full-blooded characters, Barone takes an episode that has fallen into unjustified obscurity and restores it to the prominence it deserves. Especially now, as we face enemies who wish to rid the world of the lasting legacies of the Glorious Revolution—democracy, individual rights, and capitalism among them—it is vitally important that we understand the origins of these blessings.
Michael Barone
Michael Barone is a a journalist and former political consultant, senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner and resident fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute. He is a founder and longtime principal co-author of The Almanac of American Politics and is the author of six other books on American history and politics and its British heritage. He has worked for the Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report and has written for many other publications. He grew up in Detroit and Birmingham, Michigan, and is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, and was an editor of the Harvard Crimson and the Yale Law Journal.
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Reviews for Our First Revolution
41 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History at its best. When I first read the title to this book I couldn't help but thinking, "huh." Once I started the book though I was able to connect the dots and I learned a ton of history. Anytime reading about European roalty it can be enormously confusing, but Barone walks us through the roalty labyrinth with clarity. I also like reading Barone's weekly article and blog writing. Keen insight into to todays political environment.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A straightforward narrative history of Britain's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688. This is as rigorous as popular history gets: Barone cites his sources scrupulously, and he cites to the leading academic syntheses of the last two decades. Given Barone's career as a political journalist, it's not surprising that this volume emphasizes the ins and outs of politics under Charles II and James II; it's a political wonk's history. Readers more interested in social trends or the full personalities of the major historical figures will find this a dry read, or at least incomplete. But as a basic narrative history, it's a great introduction to the Revolution of 1688. One quibble: in his introduction, Barone argues that the Revolution of 1688 has received much less attention in the U.S. than it deserves: "this First Revolution was ...a long step forward toward the kind of society we take for granted now. It provided the backdrop for the amazing growth, prosperity, and military success of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain -- and for the American Revolution and the even more amazing growth, prosperity, and military success of the United States." But this interpretation isn't new; it's the heart of traditional Whig history, the view that 1688 is best understood as one step in the long unfolding of British history to generate the modern, democratic, relatively free market state. Plenty of American historians have articulated this view (especially through the 1800s); fewer recently in academia because it imposes current values retroactively, and is now viewed as a sloppy way to do history. Fortunately, Barone's Whig impulse doesn't prejudice most of his narrative -- which, after all, is based closely on the work of modern, post-Whig academic historians -- and it's possible ignore this theme in his introduction and conclusion.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A good book on the 1680s outing of King James by William of Orange leading to the reign of William and Mary.