The Restless Republic - Anna Keay



A very good read for me!

In the Netherlands children are taught a bit about history of other countries besides their own.
I never really got to grasp what happened in England (Great Brittain) between King Charles I and King Charles II. Of course I heard about Oliver Cromwell, but what happened in these years always remained a mystery to me.
This book made things very understandable. Anna Keay did a great job with this scientific book. It is even a very enjoyable one. Using some of the main characters of the period to sketch the events from their perspective works really well. People, things and the period certainly came to life for me. The way the narrative was told made me think of the books of Barbara Tuchman, who used the same technique.
This narrative is not straight forward, it is quite complicated.
I always thought that the period of Cromwell being in charge of England, Scotland and Ireland should be considered as the nations being a republic, now I understand this was not really the case. Only in name Cromwell was not a king.
In fact he even was offered to become king.
Furthermore I think I can compare the events leading to the death of Charles I to the Russian Revolution, what really should be named the Russian Revolutions.
It all is quite a mess, compare it with coups in African countries and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and that mixed together.
The book offered me something extra, it made me understand a bit better what caused it for the Irish to be treated so badly by the English. For instance: it is hard to imagine that the first slaves on plantations in the Americas were Irish men and women. That was quite shocking for me.
The only thing I did not like very much was the font that was used. After a while I got used to it, but I myself would never use it for a book. I can't imagine Anna Keay has chosen this herself.
All in all this book deserves far more than 5 stars!

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