Rideal is particularly good on the great set pieces - the plague, the fire and (especially) the naval battles - which she brings to dramatic life with telling details * The Times *Ī book firmly anchored in the grain of contemporary accounts, sparking with the crackle of first-hand reports * Guardian * Publisher: John Murray Press ISBN: 9781473623545 Number of pages: 320 Weight: 220 g Dimensions: 198 x 128 x 24 mm MEDIA REVIEWSĪn impressively vivid account of an extraordinary piece of England's history.

With flair and style, 1666 shows a city and a country on the cusp of modernity, and a series of events that forever altered the course of history.

It was in this year that John Milton completed Paradise Lost, Frances Stewart posed for the now-iconic image of Britannia, and a young architect named Christopher Wren proposed a plan for a new London - a stone phoenix to rise from the charred ashes of the old city. While the central events of this significant year were ones of devastation and defeat, 1666 also offers a glimpse of the incredible scientific and artistic progress being made at that time, from Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity to Robert Hooke's microscopic wonders. Based on original archival research and drawing on little-known sources, 1666: Plague, War and Hellfire takes readers on a thrilling journey through a crucial turning point in English history, as seen through the eyes of an extraordinary cast of historical characters. Shedding light on these dramatic events, historian Rebecca Rideal reveals an unprecedented period of terror and triumph. The outbreak of the Great Plague, the eruption of the second Dutch War and the Great Fire of London all struck the country in rapid succession and with devastating repercussions.

Rebecca rideal 1666