The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England

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The situation shifted when, in February, 1645, Parliament consolidated the New Model Army, eventually under the double command of the aristocratic Thomas Fairfax, about whom, one woman friend admitted, “there are various opinions about his intellect,” and the grim country Protestant Oliver Cromwell, about whose firm intellect opinions varied not. Ideologically committed, like Napoleon’s armies a century later, and far better disciplined than its Royalist counterparts, at least during battle (they tended to save their atrocities for the after-victory party), the New Model Army was a formidable and modern force. Healey, emphasizing throughout how fluid and unpredictable class lines were, makes it clear that the caste lines of manners were more marked. Though Cromwell was suspicious of the egalitarian democrats within his coalition—the so-called Levellers—he still declared, “I had rather have a plain russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that which you call a gentleman.” Donald Trump appears to have had plenty of experience of the American legal system without it improving his regard for the country's constitution. ↩︎

Charles I was king, and his belief in his divine right to rule came into direct conflict with a variety of constituencies within Parliament that insisted a king must prove himself a “lawful magistrate” of his realm. Some groups were more radical than others, but all agreed ultimate sovereignty lay with the people. Any ruler who hoped to reign needed to accept this new political consciousness. Charles I refused and paid for it with his head.To the extent there is any overarching theme emerging from the book, it is that the Civil War wasn't just about religion – people were also motivated by deeply held beliefs about the constitution and the accountability of those in power to those they ruled. In that sense, the book is a subtle nod towards the original Whig interpretation of events in seventeenth century England (but with due regard given to the importance of religion). One thing I took from this book was how ideas that were quite radical for the time (such as suffrage for all adult males, or something close to it) were discussed and taken seriously (by some within the Parliamentarian side) during the Civil War (for example, at the Putney Debates of 1647). Dross and dung At the beginning of The Blazing World, a lustful merchant kidnaps the young Lady, hoping to make her marry him. As punishment, the gods blow the merchant’s ship toward the North Pole, where the Lady’s world meets “another Pole of another world.” The merchant and his crew freeze to death, but the Lady survives. She finds herself in this other world— the Blazing World—which is full of curious hybrid creatures who have the bodies of animals but walk, talk, and act like human beings. The bear-men, who live near the Blazing World’s icy North Pole, find the merchant’s ship and rescue the Lady. She is as unusual to the Blazing World’s inhabitants as they are to her, so they bring her to their Emperor, who lives in a palace in the gold-and-jewel-studded city of Paradise. The Emperor believes the Lady to be a goddess, and he graciously marries her and gives her “absolute power to rule and govern all that World as she please[s].” But the story of this century is less well known than it should be. Myths have grown around key figures. People may know about the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London, but the Civil War is a half-remembered mystery to many. And yet the seventeenth century has never seemed more relevant. The British constitution is once again being bent and contorted, and there is a clash of ideologies reminiscent of when Roundhead fought Cavalier.

Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.There was birth as well as death, as this revolution “brought an extraordinary moment of ideological creativity ”. In army grandee John Lambert’s 1653 Instrument of Government , under which Cromwell ruled as Lord Protector, England had its first written constitution and one that enshrined religious toleration. There were no penalties compelling people to any particular faith, instead an exhortation that “endeavours be used to win them by sound doctrine and the example of good conversation ”. It was not to be. Following the execution of the stubborn and slippery king, a Commonwealth was proclaimed. Cromwell’s conquest of Ireland – here given no more and no less space than required – and of Scotland secured these isles in preparation for experiments in government. First, there was the fundamentalist Nominated Assembly, or Barebone’s Parliament, which Cromwell disbanded in favour of the settlement devised by the soldier and intellectual John Lambert – for whom Healey, a fellow Yorkshireman, cannot disguise his admiration. Lambert’s Instrument of Government, Britain’s first and only written constitution, reimagined the old trinity of King, Lords and Commons as Protector, Council of State and Commons. Cromwell took top spot in 1653, though the Protectorate was doomed from the afternoon of September 3 1658, when “Cromwell died, people not much minding it,” as an Essex clergyman wrote in his diary. The Lady, now the Empress, uses her power to learn everything that she can about the Blazing World. She learns that the world’s inhabitants all speak the same language, follow the same religion, and obey the same all-powerful Emperor. Each species group lives independently and follows a unique profession, but they coexist peacefully, without fighting over power. The gooselike bird-men, the kingdom’s astronomers, tell the Empress about the Blazing World’s sun, moon, and stars. The bear-men, who are experimental philosophers, use telescopes to test the bird-men’s hypotheses and microscopes to show the Empress tiny objects, like a fly’s eyes and a piece of charcoal. The fish-men and worm-men (natural philosophers) teach her about the Blazing World’s animals, and the ape-men (chemists) explain how basic elements make up everything in nature. But other groups (like the lice- and parrot-men) humiliate themselves when they present their shoddy work, and the Empress banishes them from her palace. She blames the Blazing World’s religion for their failures, so she decides to convert its people to her own. She builds two chapels, one out of the Blazing World’s shining star-stone and the other of its burning fire-stone. Reading Jonathan Healey's The Blazing World, it's a wonder that there were many people left alive in England come the end of the 1600's ! The plague, the fire of London, the civil war, the witch trials, the persecution and execution of Protestants, Catholics, Quakers and other religious followers, wars with European neighbours! The 17th century sure wasn't the most peaceful hundred years in our history. So this book is about raw politics, but it is also about the social change that conditioned those politics. It is narrative history, and for this it makes no apologies, but it’s also about how those two forces combined to create nearly a hundred years of turbulence, out of which arose a remarkable new world, one which – for better or worse – was blazing a path towards our own.

To Cromwell we come then. His influence arose from his successful military leadership of the "New Model" Army under Charles, new as in its national scope with central government funding (p. 196) and its disciplined professional soldiers. As in so many other factional disputes like enumerated above, officers and fighting men often had different political and religious viewpoints, which may explain why no military coup was attempted through the revolutionary century. In fact when Charles finally surrendered it was "Not to Parliament [and its New Model Army]. . . but to the [Scottish] Covenanters." (p. 208). The path from surrender to execution (p. 256) was political not military, as was the selection of Cromwell as leader: "The new regime had toppled the monarchy and established the power of the Commons, but they had done so without rooting the new government in actual popular consent." (p. 258). Cromwell was the executive of the government, and "there was no doubt that Cromwell was the leading political figure of the nation" (p. 280) but he still ruled through Parliament and other councils of state. In his own words, "I am ready to serve not as a King, but as a Constable" (p. 306), to which Healey offers the assessment that "one of the great tragedies of Cromwell was that he prevented the Republic being so much more. He was, at heart, a conservative East Anglian landowner." (p. 310) The seventeenth century was a revolutionary age for the English. It started as they suddenly found themselves ruled by a Scotsman, and it ended in the shadow of an invasion by the Dutch. Under James I, England suffered terrorism and witch panics. Under his son Charles, state and society collapsed into civil war, to be followed by an army coup and regicide. For a short time—for the only time in history—England was a republic. There were bitter struggles over faith and Parliament asserted itself like never before. There were no boundaries to politics.In fiery, plague-ridden London, in coffee shops and alehouses, new ideas were forged that were angry, populist, and almost impossible for monarchs to control. A zesty and gripping account of England’s ‘century of revolution.’” —Edward Vallance, Literary Review Charts th[e] extraordinary course from the Tudors to the Hanoverians. . . . Healey channels the inquiring spirit which came to define this revolutionary age, creating his own survey as rich and wide-ranging as the pioneering work of the seventeenth-century characters he so admires.” —Miranda Malins, The Critic I found this book fascinating and at times quite moving. It was a great insight into how society shaped democracy as we know it today. It documents the struggles for democracy and the many attempted forms of this. And makes very clear that absolute power corrupts absolutely, whether monarchy or republic. It sets out the twists and turns of history and the impact they made.Not that this book wasn’t interesting or worthwhile. For one thing, it reminded me how Protestant views changed the world. These ideas eventually led to the belief that a government should serve at the behest of the people. If you could select your own pastor rather than accept an appointed bishop, then why not select your own ruler as well? If your king is a heretic, isn’t it your duty to resist rather than to obey? One can easily understand the simple progression from battling against hierarchies within a church to fighting against hierarchies anywhere. Conversely, Catholics tended to support royal absolutism. It definitely confirmed to me that hereditary titles above Baron (which can be earned in the UK) should be abolished, if you can’t “earn” a title like you could when they were relevant, then you shouldn’t be able to pass them on either! Healy] makes a convincing argument that the turbulent era qualifies as truly ‘revolutionary,’ not simply because of its cascading political upheavals, but in terms of far-reaching changes within society.... Wryly humorous and occasionally bawdy”— The Wall Street Journal The 17th century is having its moment, with a harvest of excellent histories, novels and podcasts. Though it will be accused of a certain Whiggishness in its narrative arc from darkness to light, The Blazing World offers a thrilling panorama of the period, from perspectives high and low, told with a winning combination of impish wit, sound judgment, and serious scholarship that distances it from the traditional textbooks. It will delight those new to this extraordinary age, and fire up its grizzled veterans.