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The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (Penguin History)
by: Christopher Hill

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 941.06
EAN: 9780140137323
ISBN: 0140137327
Label: Penguin Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 432
Publication Date: December 12, 1991
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Studio: Penguin Books Ltd
Sales Rank: 46689

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The Century of Revolution, 1603-1714 (Routledge Classics)

The English Civil War: A People's History

Editorial Review:

Synopsis:
Within the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century which resulted in the triumph of the protestant ethic - the ideology of the propertied class - there threatened another, quite different, revolution. Its success 'might have established communal property, a far wider democracy in political and legal institutions, might have disestablished the state church and rejected the protestant ethic. In "The World Turned Upside Down" Christopher Hill studies the beliefs of such radical groups as the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers and others, and the social and emotional impulses that gave rise to them. The relations between rich and poor classes, the part played by wandering 'masterless' men, the outbursts of sexual freedom, the great imaginative creations of Milton and Bunyan - these and many other elements build up into a marvellously detailed and coherent portrait of this strange, sudden effusion of revolutionary beliefs.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- The best history work in English?
Certainly a candidate for it. Hill's monumental work is probably the definitive work of the British Marxist Historians group of scholars who appeared in the immediate after of World War II. It featured such lumanaries as E.P. Thompson and Rodney Hilton and basically invented Social History through its study of what became known as 'History from Below'.
Thompson's 'The Making of the English Working Class' is the most famous publication of the group, but 'World turned Upside Down' is, in the humble opinion of this author, the best.

It expands on Hill's thesis about the two revolutions that took place in England at the time of the Civil War. Focussing on the second, democratic, revolution, that ultimately failed; Hill examines some ... Read More:

Rating:

- Rather misleading portrayal of the period
In the same way that many teenage readers of fiction adore the novels of D.H.Lawrence, so do many young history students become great fans of Christopher Hill. And then the romance fades. Wide reading of the original sources of the mid-17th century exposes Hill as a writer who is extraordinarily selective in his choice of material. He does this because otherwise the sources would fail to support his preconceived theory of a "bourgeois revolution" in the 17th century. Read Hill by all means - but handle with care.

Rating:

- The classic study of the radical seventeenth century.
Christopher Hill is one of my favourite historians, and of his books, of which I have about a dozen on my bookshelves, this is probably the best. Its style owes much to EP Thompson's monumental 'The Making of the English Working Class', both in terms of structure and historical methodology. Hill is a Marxist historian, but there is little dogmatic or reductionist about his work, and, contrary to the review below, a familiarity with Marxist concepts is not at all necessary to appreciate the value of this important book.

Hill begins the work with a general survey of the social, religious and economic background to the English Revolution; the forces which created it, and the openings it itself created through, eg, the New Model Army, the ... Read More:

Rating:

- Marxist Historiography?
Mr Hill is widely known as *the* historian of the English Civil War. This book, long considered the cornerstone of Civil War historiography, is full of new and bold ideas that Mr Hill puts forth in great detail. A word of warning: if you do not know what millenarianism is, or who the Levellers, Diggers, and Ranters were, then you will not understand this book! Mr Hill assumes a level of knowledge that very few people have, and this book is a very difficult read. If, however, you take well to Mr Hill's Marxist veiws (including a distinct lack of objectivity in the area of religion), and you are well versed in English history, you would do well to read this book. "The World Turned Upside Down" is still, with all its inherent problems, the ... Read More:

Rating:

- wonderfully explorative evocation of its subject
If the English Civil War is your concern, then this book is a must. Hill even makes you consider the Ranters (who believed it their duty to sin as frequently and openly as possible) as a group with logical ideas. Hill is concise, clear and often very witty. This book has helped my study of the period a great deal.

Books : The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (Penguin History)