or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
36 used & new from £6.50
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I
 
 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I (Hardcover)

by John Adamson (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £25.00
Price: £16.82 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £8.18 (33%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 5 left in stock--order soon.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 24? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
22 new from £6.50 13 used from £6.50 1 collectible from £24.99
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New Ed) £16.99 £11.87 34 used & new from £3.44
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
12 Days of Christmas Sale in Books
Get up to 65% off some of our top titles. Shop now

Special Offers and Product Promotions

Frequently Bought Together

The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I + God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars + A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain
Price For All Three: £31.52

Show availability and delivery details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars

God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars

by Michael Braddick
3.3 out of 5 stars (6)  £9.06
Restoration: Charles II and His Kingdoms, 1660-1685

Restoration: Charles II and His Kingdoms, 1660-1685

by Tim Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £8.72
Britain in Revolution: 1625-1660

Britain in Revolution: 1625-1660

by Austin Woolrych
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £30.40
The Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720

The Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720

by Tim Harris
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £9.06
Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783

Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783

by Brendan Simms
£9.09
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 768 pages
  • Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; 1 edition (29 Mar 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0297842625
  • ISBN-13: 978-0297842620
  • Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 17.8 x 6.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 239,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

"immensely scholarly and beautifully written book... This is one of the most original and thought-provoking books on the civil war I have yet read." (SIMON HEFFER THE LITERARY REVIEW )

"a work of great style and imagination.... As with a great 19th-century novel, the story and the characters will become your friends for life." (ED SMITH THE TIMES )

"vigorously refutes more than a century of debate on the reasons for Charles's downfall.. a good old-fashioned political history." (THE SUNDAY TIMES )

"a monumental achievement. ..a timeless study of the realities of power... John Adamson has given us a masterly account." (MALCOLM GASKILL THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

"... new and profound, it's an exciting read, full of colour and finely drawn characters.. the ten years dedicated to writing it were well spent." (LEANDA DE LISLE THE SPECTATOR )

"engaging... he delivers a body blow to recent modes of revisionist analysis." (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )

"Adamson has fine gifts of characterisation... he has raised his subject to a new level." (BLAIR WORDEN LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS )

"excellent... As rigorously close-up historical narrative, this is exemplary stuff." (THE GUARDIAN )

"Adamson's book has much to offer." (FINANCIAL TIMES )

" a daunting range of references and a fluent prose style. This is history at its biggest and boldest." (THE FIRST POST )

"In a charismatic way, Adamson tells the gripping story of those tense days of the 1630s and 1640s... This is revisionism with a scholarly slant." (THE GOOD BOOK GUIDE )


ED SMITH, THE TIMES

"a work of great style and imagination as well as scholarship... As with a great 19th-century novel, the story and the characters will become your friends for life."
See all Product Description

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(2)
(1)
(1)
See all 8 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I
88% buy the item featured on this page:
The Noble Revolt: The Overthrow of Charles I 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£16.82
God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars
4% buy
God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars 3.3 out of 5 stars (6)
£9.06
Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier
3% buy
Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier 3.8 out of 5 stars (6)
£7.68
The English Civil War: Conflict and Contexts, 1640-49
2% buy
The English Civil War: Conflict and Contexts, 1640-49
£22.79
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book about events, 14 Jul 2008
By Stewart Murray McRorie "Willoughby" (La Bussiere Sur Ouche, Cote d'Or France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
Having read Michael Braddicks' "God's Fury, England's Fire: A New History of the English Civil Wars" I was prepared for Adamson's magnum opus. This is not a book about the civil war; it ends some seven years before Charles's execution. What Adamson does is to take a small period - the summer 1640 to Charles' flight from London in January 1642 - and chronicles the days and weeks showing the machinations leading to the war. Harold Macmillan, when asked what blew governments of course replied - "events!" This is a book about events, a detailed analysis of calamitous, compelling and intricate politics.

The object, the king, meets the force, the parliamentary nobility. For such a weighty book, there is little biographical detail, certainly it is not revealing about the king himself, just his actions. After 11 years of controversial personal rule, taxation, in selecting his advisers, his legal and religious policies, Charles needed money to fight the Scots so has to deal with parliament. It was Charles misfortune to run up against a nobility that "was perhaps the most theologically and legally literate in English history", united by a sense of God given destiny. So the battle of wills between an assertive, cohesive cabal of nobles determined to reduce the power of a principled, but conceited and ineffective monarch begun. It was fought - in the initial phase that this book covers - with deference to procedure; parliament was the cockpit. This was not a revolution but a redefinition of government with resolution nearly achieved on numerous occasions.

The noble cabal was in a precarious position, constantly risking all to seize the initiative. That meant winning hearts and minds beyond the court and parliament, with popularity a vital part of successful politics. To say more is to spoil the plot, this is an intricate story of linkages, divided loyalties and betrayal, flattery and deceit. Royal authority suffered a catastrophic collapse and government had to be reinvented. No one actually wanted a republic. Charles had to negotiate on three home fronts, England certainly but equally Scotland and Ireland while there was a foreign policy dimension that had to be managed. Charles was ultimately a bad politician who was aggressor and appeaser and by "allowing the two strategies to run in tandem virtually guaranteeing the failure of both." Adamson gives an excellent account of the demise of Strafford, even knowing his eventual fate does not detract from the story, how near he was to keeping his head if not his dignity. This aspect alone makes a good book while he deals in fine detail with the Anglo Scottish alliance.

Adamson writes well, his data collection and organisation is formidable although in emphasising points he tends towards persistent repetition. His frequent use of contemporary English quotes and spelling adds texture. There are excellent illustrations, colour plates, drawings and maps. Yet of the 742 pages, 221 (30%) are notes and index and amid the text, footnotes are extensive. I wonder if a web site might be a better place for these. Those interested could make fuller use of them in this format and think of the paper saved.

This is a credible book, essentially a melodrama of hard-core politics with Machiavellian conspiracies pilled high. Adamson is opinionated, and so he should be given the depth of his scholarship. It requires a good knowledge of the Carolinian period. If you want to know what happens next, you will have to wait for him to write more or go elsewhere. Adamson tells a good story, intriguing characters with no shortage of "events."
Comment Comments (6) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
59 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguers and Revolutionaries, 17 Aug 2007
First and foremost, do not be put off by the books size, for despite it's girth there is a phenomenally comprehensive bibliography and compendious source notes. You WILL want more! I became utterly absorbed by machinations of the (many) various protagonists.
This book is not a `revisionist' work with the negative connotations that the term implies, but more an investigation into the causes of the internecine conflict of the 1640's with forensic detail. It is told with a fluid and informative, as well as entertaining narrative and the pace rarely slackens, indeed there is much ground to be covered for such a short period of English history.
In short, Adamson's arguments are well supported with convincing documented evidence and although a truly scholarly work, there is enough here for the curious historical thriller reader to become engaged with.
I echo others comments: surly a sequel/s will (I hope) be forthcoming.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
41 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth waiting for, 13 May 2007
By T. S. Hearn (London UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is an astonishing 'tour de force'. History for grown-ups.

To most readers a tome of this size and weight will be quite a daunting prospect however I beg you not to be put off by its sheer physical dimensions. Adamson's style is easy to follow and intelligent. He has written a Rolls Royce of a book. One might ask if all the footnotes are necessary but who am I to criticise a master craftsman?

The book is worth buying just for its; maps, plans, genealogies and colour illustrations. These will be invaluable aids to any student of this crucial period in our history. The picture editor deserves a bonus!

My favourite part of the book is the treatment of Strafford's Trial. I must have read a dozen different accounts of this event but never before have I heard the tale told in such a visceral manner. Adamson's insights into the motivation and behaviour of the key participants are masterful.

One of my only disappointments with the book is that I think that there is more to say about the role of the Providence Island Company in the events described. Never mind there is always the sequel (or even the prequel)that one feels must surely follow ...

Sam Hearn






Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour de force...
What caused the English Civil War is a question which had already begun to exercise historians while powder smoke still lingered on the battlefields, and which exercises them... Read more
Published 11 months ago by William Kelley

4.0 out of 5 stars Very detailed intense account
A very impressive work, not least with the amount of scholarship and the depth of knowledge that has gone into it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Too many books

5.0 out of 5 stars High Quality Page Turner
"Despite (or because of) its size, The Noble Revolt is a page turner of the highest quality, painstakingly researched and stylishly written. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2007 by Cormac Quinn

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new under the sun
This is a marvellous book, highly readable with all the excitement of a thriller.

Modern journalists should read it. Read more
Published on 4 May 2007 by Seamus Mcneill

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject























i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.