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Buy Republic By Alice Hunt online from Woodbine Books – free delivery in ROI on orders over €50
‘An enthralling narrative of the rise and fall of Britain’s republican experiment.’
DOMINIC SANDBROOK, The Times ‘Best History Books of 2024’
‘A gripping tale of political and cultural crisis but also one of joy and hopeful innovation, told with eloquence and passion.’
MALCOLM GASKILL
‘Magisterial, compelling and eye-opening.’
SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB
Events moved with giddying speed in the 1650s. After the execution of Charles I, ‘dangerous’ monarchy was abolished and the House of Lords was dismissed, sending shock waves across the kingdom. These revolutionary acts set in motion a decade of bewildering change and instability, under the leadership of the soldier-statesman Oliver Cromwell.
England’s unique and distinctive republican experiment may have been short-lived, but it changed the course of British history. It transformed the relationship between England, Scotland and Ireland, reset the compact between the monarch and the people, and re-fashioned the story the British told – and continue to tell – about themselves.
REPUBLIC is a richly engrossing year-by-year account of this exhilarating and daring period. It tells the story of what Britain’s republic was really like: why it failed, but also, what it got right.
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A gripping account of one of the most exciting – and most misunderstood – periods in British history. I couldn't put it down.
Adrian Tinniswood
A magisterial, compelling and eye-opening biography of Britain's great and extraordinary experiment.
Suzannah Lipscomb
By restoring colour to character and excitement to event, Alice Hunt brilliantly reanimates this most extraordinary decade. It is a gripping tale of political and cultural crisis but also one of joy and hopeful innovation, told with eloquence and passion.
Malcolm Gaskill
Whip-smart, witty and a dream to read, Republic gives a real sense of what it was actually like to live through Britain's most exciting decade. A superb achievement.
Jessie Childs
As alert to nuance as to the big picture, invariably insightful, and storied with vivid set-pieces and character sketches, Alice Hunt's compelling narrative nails one of the most myth-laden decades of British history.
David Kynaston
A splendid guide to the decade that saw England's great experiment with radicalism, examining a heady world of 'overturning days' with crisp, scholarly lucidity.
Lucy Moore
An excellent introduction to the period; lively, erudite, and blending political, military, religious and cultural history in a way accessible to any reader.
Ronald Hutton
Lively, engaging, yet also rigorous and searching, Republic offers a powerful reassessment of our century of revolution. Professor Hunt wears her learning lightly, but every page is informed by her profound understanding of a complex, controversial period in our history and enlivened by her sense that what happened then, matters now.
Anna Beer
Republic is an eloquent, accessible, and thrilling account of Britain's only radical republican experiment. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the country's past, present – and potential future.
Paul Lay
Post-regicide, the unstable politics of the 1650s proved exhilarating and hazardous. Hunt's Republic is a richly evocative cavalcade recounting one of the most extraordinary decades in British history.
Clare Jackson
Vivid, fast-paced, revelatory: Republic inhabits one of the most elusive periods of British history with all the tension and jeopardy of a thriller.
Lisa Hilton
Hunt, in admirably clear and direct prose, attempts something […] comprehensive, providing an earnest narrative, with each chapter devoted to a year of the republican experiment. Republic covers a lot of such ground, featuring a huge cast of characters.
The Times
A fast-paced and enjoyable year-by-year survey of events. The lively narrative, interspersed with wry asides, presents a plethora of rich vignettes of notable episodes and personalities that bring this exhilarating period to life. Allow[s] us to look afresh at the republican era
Times Literary Supplement – Jonathan Fitzgibbons
Excellent. The author's primary aim is to rescue the 1650s as a revolutionary decade and to show that the period's politics cannot be isolated from the riches of its art, philosophy and science. Imaginative and intelligent.
Spectator
[A] splendidly dissident and engrossing history
Literary Review – Diane Purkiss
A very good read. beautifully presented
BBC History Magazine
Instantly reminded me of the history books about the civil wars that I read as a boy – those which fired my passion for this entire period. Republic tells the story of eleven transformative years from 1649 to 1660. A beautiful narrative picks up the threads of civil war and weaves them into a compelling exploration of Commonwealth and Protectorate.
Aspects of History
A thorough survey of politics, religion, warfare and culture in a tumultuous time, told through excellent set-pieces and character sketches.
The Telegraph, ‘Best History Books of 2024’ – Simon Heffer
The 1650s are often neglected in favour of the dramatic events of the civil war driven 1640s. Alice Hunt's Republic redresses the balance with aplomb as she charts the challenges of rule without a king. This lively book invites readers to “eavesdrop” on the republican revolution through the speeches, letters and diaries of the time.'
History Today – Jackie Eales
