[A] lively, compelling and combative study of the most dramatic and consequential century in English history . . . The Blazing World offers a thrilling panorama of the period, from perspectives high and low, told with a winning combination of impish wit, sound judgment, and serious scholarship . . . It will delight those new to its extraordinary age, and fire up its grizzled veterans

Paul Lay, Telegraph

A colourful history of the Stuart age . . . This lively and mischievous book guides us through a dangerous revolutionary century . . . There's a reticence about taking on such a complex and turbulent period, but the rewards, as The Blazing World manifestly demonstrates, are very great . . . This is a wonderful book, exhaustively researched, vigorously argued and teeming with the furious joy of 17th-century life

Jessie Childs, The Times

Healey's prose is precise but colloquial. He presents complex arguments, but delivers them in a laid back, often jocular manner . . . He tackles big subjects – religious dissent, the legal system – but hitches them to piquant stories about individuals previously unknown to history . . . Events were tumultuous, but Healey persuasively shows us that thoughts were as thrilling and sometimes as wild . . . Compendious and lucid

Lucy Hughes-Hallett, Spectator

The tempo never slackens in this erudite book

Economist

One of the many virtues of Jonathan Healey's exciting new history of England during its most revolutionary period is the skilful way in which he thoroughly dissects the often obscure points of contention while never losing sight of the need to keep the narrative flowing . . . A rich and compelling account of one of the most fascinating and turbulent periods in all our history

Simon Griffith, Mail on Sunday

An admirably even-handed account . . . For those new to the subject, Healey's retelling is exemplary

Jerry Brotton, Financial Times