Royal Historical Society The Culture of Dissent in Restoration England: The Wonders of the Lord: 103 (Royal Historical Society Studies in History New Series)

Review This fine and original study is a model of academic prose: lucidly argued, precise without being pedantic, fully and impeccably substantiated, scrupulous and generous in acknowledging the work of other scholars, with an admirably inclusive bibliography of the relevant secondary literature. ― THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY Southcombe in general is drawn to close engagement with the poetry produced by his exemplars, unsurprisingly perhaps, given that he is the editor of a three-volume anthology, English Nonconformist Poetry, 1660-1700 (2012); he is a master of reading the almost unreadable. Certainly this monograph refreshes our notions about the culture of Restoration dissent. ― Milton Quarterly [T]his volume will commend itself to historically minded readers of Restoration literature and has the merit of debunking some cliches, such as the dissenters' "spirit of defeat." . . . More generally, it is a welcome addition to recent contributions to the theological, literary, and political cultures of the Restoration. ― Journal of Church and State Product Description The voices of non-conformity are brought to the fore in this new exploration of late seventeenth-century politics, religion and literature. 2022 Richard L. Greaves Prize Honourable Mention Whilst scholars have recently offered a much deeper and more persuasive account of the centrality of religious issues in shaping the political and cultural worlds of Restoration England, much of this has been broad-brush and the voices of individual established Church figures have been much more clearly heard than those of dissenters. This book offers a fresh and challenging new approach to the voices that the confessional state had no prospect of silencing. It provides case studies of a range of very different but highly articulate dissenters, focusing on their modes of political activism and on the varieties of dissenting response possible, and demonstrating the vitality and integrity of witnesses to a spectrum of post-revolutionary Protestantism. It also seeks, through an exploration of textual culture and poetic texts in particular, to illuminate both the ways in which nonconformists sought to engage with central authorities in Church and State, and the development of nonconformist identities in relation to each other. GEORGE SOUTHCOMBE is Director of the Sarah Lawrence Programme, Wadham College, Oxford.