Overview
The Book of Sports was the royal declaration which sanctioned popular participation in traditional pastimes after church attendance on Sunday. It was denounced by a vociferous opposition who viewed recreation on the Sabbath as the devil’s work. Alistair Dougall takes a fresh look at the events surrounding the re-publication of the Book of Sports in 1633 and reassesses the role of Charles I himself in the controversy. He re-examines the cultural battle that emerged as a result of the tension between Sunday observance and traditional revelry and demonstrates how a new form of ‘sabbatarianism’ became the hallmark of the radical Protestants who sought to suppress all Sunday recreations. The book also makes an important contribution to the ongoing debate surrounding the causes of division in English society which led to the outbreak of civil war in 1642.
Full Product Details
Author: Alistair Dougall
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Imprint: University of Exeter Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.30cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 23.90cm
Weight: 0.408kg
ISBN: 9780859898560
ISBN 10: 0859898563
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 22 July 2011
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
'Well-researched, cogent, extremely readable and likely to become the standard work upon its subject.' (Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, Department of Historical Studies, Bristol University)
The scope of Dougall's investigation will allow historians of Caroline culture and the English Civil Wars to see local, polemicized battles over the Lord's Day in a longer perspective. More generally, this highly readable book is a case study in how religious, social, and political motivations intertwine. The book offers a thorough and cogent story of the development of English sabbatarianism, and students seeking to understand the complex political, religious and cultural history of these years will appreciate the admirable blend of subtlety and clarity that Dougall achieves. Well-researched, cogent, extremely readable and likely to become the standard work upon its subject.
A rich telling of an important story of developing tensions within English Protestantism. . . . A well conceived and very well executed study. . . . I can warmly commend this book to you. --John Morrill, University of Cambridge<br>--John Morrill
Author Information
Alistair Dougall taught for four years at Southampton University before joining the Godolphin School in Salisbury, where he is Head of Sixth Form and teaches History, specialising in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English and European History.
