The Restoration: England in the 1660s

The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the return of Charles II to his throne have often been depicted as a watershed in English history, inaugurating a period of stability following the upheavals and radicalism of the Civil War, the Republic and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. N. H. Keeble’s study challenges this portrayal of events, arguing that the Restoration was in fact tentative and insecure, unsure either of its popular support or its future. Keeble’s cultural history of the 1660s offers a multi-faceted and dynamic model of the decade. Drawing extensively on contemporary accounts, the author reveals that for those who lived through them, the events of 1660 carried no sense of finality or assurance of a new age. By representing the voices of the time, his account restores contingency, instability and insecurity to the Restoration and demonstrates that the 1660s were no less complex or exciting than the revolutionary years that preceded them.