1688: The First Modern Revolution

By Steve Pincus

Categories: History, Politics & Social Sciences

In 1688 England's Catholic king, James II, was driven from the throne, and William of Orange took his place. Historians long called it the Glorious Revolution, a bloodless and conservative affair. Steve Pincus disagrees. Drawing on extensive archival research, he contends that 1688 was a violent, popular and divisive upheaval: a rejection of James's French-style Catholic absolutism in favor of a Dutch-inspired vision of toleration, free debate and commerce. In his account, that choice remade England's state, economy, church and foreign policy.

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• Fareed Zakaria: “the most interesting book I was reading historically was a book by Stephen Pincus on the Glorious Revolution in England called 1688, which is the year of the Glorious Revolution. I read it twice.”