A Nation Transformed England After the Restoration

A Nation Transformed highlights the ways in which England became a modern society during the second half of the seventeenth century. Essays in the volume deal with changes in natural philosophy, literature, religion, politics, political thought, and political economy, and are based on new and innovative research.



A Nation Transformed is a major collection of essays by a mix of young and eminent scholars of early modern English history, literature, and political thought. The fruit of an intense interdisciplinary two-day conference held at the Huntington Library, California, it asks whether and in what ways the culture and politics of early modern England was transformed by the second half of the seventeenth century. In sharp contrast to those who have emphasised continuity and the persistence of the ancien régime, the contributors argue that England in 1700 was profoundly different from what it had been in 1640. Essays in the volume deal with changes in natural philosophy, literature, religion, politics, political thought, and political economy. The insights offered here, based on innovative research, will interest scholars and students of early modern history, Renaissance and Augustan literature, and historians of political thought.