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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Plague, fire, epic poetry, rise of science, debauchery: Age of Charles II, December 15, 2009
This review is from: A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game (Hardcover)
Arguably the most eventful decade in English history, the first years of the Restoration witnessed the Great Fire of London, the last major outbreak of plague, the birth of science and the Royal Society, the greatest flowering of English theater between the Elizabethans and modern times, the last age of epic poetry (Paradise Lost) and the first simple English prose (Pilgrim's Progess), and the foundation of a stable constitutional monarchy after a century of absolutism followed by two decades of civil war, dictatorship and near-anarchy. At the center of it all stood Charles II: "loved by his parents, brought up as the adored eldest son in a luxurious court until jolt after jolt shattered the idyll. At twelve he stood by his father [at] the unthinkable turning of subjects against their king. At [the battle of] Edgehill a cannonball narrowly missed him. At fifteen he was sent west as general of the Western Army; at sixteen he fled to France. He was nineteen when his father was executed. In the years that followed he scoured foreign courts for aid, broke and hopeless." Yet at 30, he returned triumphantly and peacefully to England, and reigned until his death in bed twenty five years later. His brother and successor James ruled less than three years before losing the throne to revolution.
How did Charles succeed where his father and brother failed miserably, and more than succeed as a ruler, savor life to the fullest? "In exile, he devised a strategy based on charm, outward compliance and private evasion," writes author Jenny Uglow. "It is a challenge for someone like me, whose sympathy lies with the radicals and artisans protesting against abuse of power, to venture into the center, the heart of that power. Yet it is alluring."
Skillfully mixing the best-known contemporary sources (diarists like Pepys and Evelyn, biographers like Aubrey) with the obscure, Uglow relies on a crystal-clear prose style and an eye for the amusing anecdote, the telling detail, to bring the age alive. This is the best general introduction to a fascinating time, whether your interests lie with Charles himself--his court intrigue, his women, his wit--or in the science, art, diplomacy, great public events and private debauchery that marked his Age.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Gambling Man is the story of the Cavalier King Charles II of England, January 12, 2010
This review is from: A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game (Hardcover)
Charles II (reigned from 1660-1685) was the son of Charles I who had been executed by the Cromwellians on January 30, 1649. After the regicide of his father
the young Charles fled to the Continent after many exciting escapes from Roundhead forces. After the death of Oliver Cromwell his son Richard proved to be an incompetent ruler. The Parliament and people clamoured for Charles to return from exile. He became the King and the Restoration era was begun.
There were many momentous events during the reign of the merry monarch including:
1. The Plague which devastated London in 1665.
2. The Great Fire of London which in 1666 destroyed five/sixth of the city.
3. Three naval wars against the Dutch. The issue was trade and control of the seas.
4. Higher taxation of the populace needed to fight Charles' wars.
5. Continued religious controversy and persecution. Dissenters and Quakers were imprisoned. The Church of England was the official religion. Charles converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed following the faith of his brother James II (who short inglorious reign was from 1685-1688).
6. The founding of the Royal Society and the growing interest in science. Men like Sir Isaac Newton and Christopher Wren the architect of St. Paul's flourished during this reign.
7. Charles became unpopular when it was learned he had received a hefty bribe from Louis XIV of France. Despite being a member of the Triple Alliance of Holland, Sweden and England which was Protestant, Charles was a crypto-Roman Catholic.
The personality of Charles II? He was a rake. Charles sired countless illegitimate children and had a whole cadre of willing mistresses. Among the most famous were the actress Nell Gwynn and the notorious Barbara Villiers Lady Castlemaine. Charles was wed to the plain Catherine of Braganza from Portugal.
Charles loved sex, racing at Newmarket Track, gambling, hunting and playing tennis.
He was a non-intellectual whose reign never fulfilled its promise for the British people of greater religious stability and peace. Charles was a charming cavalier who was personally kind and endearing to his family and friends.
Jenny Uglow is a veteran British biographer. This long book covers the first ten years of Charles II reign taking the story from its beginning in 1660 to 1670. The book is lavishly illustrated with colored plates and period drawings making it an attractive volume. Along with the much earlier book on Charles II by Lady Antonia Fraser this is the one to read on the cavalier king and his exciting times.,
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
`For anyone interested in the relationship between the public and private self, there are few more intriguing characters.., June 23, 2010
This review is from: A Gambling Man: Charles II's Restoration Game (Hardcover)
.. than Charles II.'
On 25 May 1660, Charles II arrived at Dover, disembarking in front of cheering crowds. On his thirtieth birthday, 29 May 1660, he entered London. Charles had been invited home to England by parliament, thus beginning the `restoration' of the monarchy after eleven years of republican rule. In this book, Jenny Uglow focuses on the first ten years of his reign, until the signing of the secret Treaty of Dover in 1670.
Initially, I found it disconcerting to consider only the first ten years of Charles II's 25 year reign. Certainly, the first ten years saw a number of momentous events including the Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 which led to the substantial rebuilding of the city of London. Charles was also a patron of science: the Royal Society was founded in November 1660. On the foreign policy front, England was at war with the Dutch (the Second Anglo-Dutch War) between 1665 and 1667. This war ended in a Dutch victory and also, some years later, in Charles's secret treaty with Louis XIV of France. Charles undertook to support the French against the Dutch in return for which he received subsidies from France, thereby providing some room in his relationship with parliament. Charles also undertook to convert to Catholicism at a time of his choosing. More broadly, Charles's reign saw the rise of colonisation and trade in India, the East Indies and America - New York was captured from the Dutch in 1664.
But was he a gambling man? Certainly the stakes were high, especially when his reign is compared with that of his father (Charles I was beheaded in 1649) and his brother (James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution in 1688). But Charles was not reckless. He calculated some risks, and was pragmatic in most situations. While much of his private life was public, his ability to play to an audience was unparalleled.
I enjoyed this book, and while I don't fully accept the image of Charles II as a gambling man, I came to like the image of his first decade bracketed by his triumphal public entry into London, and his secret treaty with France. I see Charles as a pragmatic survivor, rather than as a gambler. Regardless of whether a reader accepts Ms Uglow's `gambling man' principle, this book is well worth reading.
`There is all the reason in the world to join profit with honour, when it may be done honestly.'
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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