Although I have read more than my fair share of books on London’s history, with my trip back in the autumn this year, I am always looking for more. And given that one of my reading goals for the last two years is to focus on reading and sharing books written by women, I was happy to discover a book on seventeenth century London from Margarette Lincoln. Because you can see so much of the seventeenth century in London to this day, I knew that I would love it and I was not wrong! Let’s get into London and the 17th Century by Margarette Lincoln.
London and the 17th Century: The Making of the World’s Greatest City, Margarette Lincoln
The Gunpowder Plot, the Civil Wars, Charles I’s execution, the Plague, the Great Fire, the Restoration, and then the Glorious Revolution: the seventeenth century was one of the most momentous times in the history of Britain, and Londoners took center stage.
In this fascinating account, Margarette Lincoln charts the impact of national events on an ever-growing citizenry with its love of pageantry, spectacle, and enterprise. Lincoln looks at how religious, political, and financial tensions were fomented by commercial ambition, expansion, and hardship. In addition to events at court and parliament, she evokes the remarkable figures of the period, including Shakespeare, Bacon, Pepys, and Newton, and draws on diaries, letters, and wills to trace the untold stories of ordinary Londoners. Through their eyes, we see how the nation emerged from a turbulent century poised to become a great maritime power with London at its heart—the greatest city of its time.
Why You Should Read This…
Whenever people say that non-fiction books are boring, I always think, “which books are they reading? Because I can’t put them down”. And this is one of those books that I could not put down.
The seventeenth century was one of non-stop change in London (and beyond)- the empire is ever-changing, politics are moving at the speed of light, literature and the performing arts were as popular as ever, fashion evolved, technology was also moving along. (Not to mention a wild number of massive societal events- the Civil War, the execution of a monarch, the Restoration, the Great Fire, etc.) Lincoln had an incredible amount of history to draw on to write this, and draw on it she did.
And she did it in an incredibly entertaining way- London and the 17th Century is an immensely readable and entertaining book. While she hits the key points of so many major episodes, it in no way feels like a textbook that you are being forced to read, but rather a guided tour through London’s history. Drawing on personal sources and stories also makes this a more human read, when it could very easily turn into statistics and timelines. All in all, this is one of my favourite London books!
Is London and the 17th Century on your to-read list?
Cheers,
The Historian
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