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Although Parliament is the principal source of authority in the British political system, it is the Cabinet which stands at the pinnacle of government. Yet what actually happens at Cabinet meetings? How are decisions made, particularly in the arena of foreign policy? Such questions have hitherto been largely overlooked by both historians and political scientists. In this book, Dr Christopher Hill presents a detailed case-study of the British government and foreign policy, during the dramatic period from the Munich Conference of 1938 to the German invasion of the Soviet Union three years later. Using extensive archival material, he examines how far the strong personalities of Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill respectively were really able to dominate their Cabinets in an area of policy where Prime Ministers have traditionally been supposed to exercise considerable freedom. This analysis concentrates on six decisions that were of key importance in committing Britain to the war wh

In 1530 England was a backward economy, yet by 1780 it possessed a world empire and was just about to become the first industrialised power in the world. This book deals with the intervening 250 years

The role of Puritanism in the formation of modern BritainIn order to understand the English Revolution and Civil War we need to understand Puritanism. In this classic work of social history, Profess

Explores the visionary, mystical, and ecstatic traditions that influenced the music of the 1960s • Examines the visionary, spiritual, and mystical influences on the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, the Rol

What lessons can we learn from the defeat of the seventeenth century English revolution?The failure of the English Revolution in 1660 provoked a variety of responses among radical clergy, intellectual

Substantially revising and updating the influential and widely used The Changing Politics of Foreign Policy, this retitled new edition provides both an introduction to, and a reassessment of, the natu

Leader of the Diggers, or True Levellers, whose colony was forced to disband in 1650, Gerrard Winstanley stands out from a century remarkable for its development in political thought as one of the most fecund and original of political writers. An acute and penetrating social critic with a passionate sense of justice, he worked out a collectivist theory which strikingly anticipates nineteenth- and twentieth-century socialism. He was the first modern European thinker to write in the vernacular advocating a communist society, and to call upon ordinary people to realize it. Winstanley published a number of pamphlets on the colony's behalf, among them a summary of his ideas, published in 1652 as The Law of Freedom in a Platform and dedicated to Oliver Cromwell. Christopher Hill's selection from Winstanley's many published pamphlets demonstrates the coherence and social relevance of Winstanley's philosophy, while it reveals his mastery of colloquial prose and his superb use of imagery.

This illuminating collection of essays assesses the seventeenth century, interpreting what used to be called "The Puritan Revolution," the ideas that helped to produce it and resulted from it, and the

In Some Intellectual Consequences of the English Revolution, Christopher Hill takes up themes that have emerged from a lifetime’s investigation into the causes of the English Revolution. However, Hill does more than analyze the origins of the Revolution. He examines the ways the seeds of change sown during the revolution, grew into transformative politics in the period following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Hill argues that the intellectual heritage of the English Revolution was mixed. While he acknowledges its achievements, he also depicts some of its failings. Consequently, he challenges the view that radical notions faded with the Restoration, suggesting instead, that they continued in pervasive and subtle ways throughout the course of English and American history. The apparent similarity between the England of 1640 and that of 1660 is shown to be illusory. Each period’s institutions survived but the social context had changed. In this way, Hill d

Preacher, Soldier, Rebel: Who was the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the most influential books ever written?John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most significant works of English lite

For three decades multiculturalism has been the focus of fierce debates. At the same time Europeans have worried, at the national level and at that of the European Union, about how to relate to a worl