Overview

Turncoats and Renegadoes is the first dedicated study of the practice of changing sides during the English Civil Wars. It examines the extent and significance of side-changing in England and Wales but also includes comparative material from Scotland and Ireland. The first half identifies side-changers among peers, MPs, army officers, and common soldiers, before reconstructing the chronological and regional patterns to their defections. The second half delivers a cultural history of treachery, by adopting a thematic approach to explore the social and cultural implications of defections, and demonstrating how notions of what constituted a turncoat were culturally constructed. Side-changing came to dominate strategy on both sides at the highest levels. Both sides reviled, yet sought to take advantage of the practice, whilst allegations of treachery came to dominate the internal politics of royalists and parliamentarians alike. The language applied to 'turncoats and renegadoes' in contemporary print is discussed and contrasted with the self-justifications of the side-changers themselves as they sought to shape an honourable self-image for their families and posterity. Andrew Hopper investigates the implementation of military justice, along with the theatre of retribution surrounding the trial and execution of turncoats. He concludes by arguing that, far from side-changing being the dubious practice of a handful of aberrant individuals, it became a necessary survival strategy for thousands as they navigated their way through such rapidly changing events. He reveals how side-changing shaped the course of the English Revolution, even contributing to the regicide itself, and remained an important political legacy to the English speaking peoples thereafter.

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrew Hopper (Lecturer in English Local History, Lecturer in English Local History, University of Leicester)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.90cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.420kg
ISBN:  

9780198716716

ISBN 10:   0198716710
Pages:   272
Publication Date:   08 May 2014
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: A profile of side-changing in England and Wales, 1642-1646 1: A turncoat aristocracy 2: 'Ambi-dexter' MPs 3: Military professionals: 'renegado' army officers 4: Popular allegiance and side-changing among rank and file soldiers 5: Chronological and regional patterns to side-changing Part II: A cultural history of side-changing 6: Political oath-taking and the fear of treachery 7: The language of treachery in newsbooks and polemic 8: Honour, reputation, and the self-fashioning of elite side-changers 9: Trial and execution: defectors and military justice Conclusion Epilogue Appendices Bibliography

Reviews

`Turncoats and Renegadoes is an important and sensitive study of an issue that has been critically absent from the ongoing debate on allegiance and political culture in the English Civil War period.' Dr Elliot Vernon, Reviews in History `A painstaking exploration of social, cultural, political, chronological and regional patterns and attitudes in and to a phenomenon conditioned by the changing tides of war, opportunism and the pressing weight of external pressures.' R. C. Richardson, Times Higher Education `By combining high-level storytelling with a thoroughness and shrewdness of judgment, it is a work that is more than the sum of its parts.' John Morill, BBC History Magazine

a thoroughly researched study of changing sides during the Civil Wars. ... a very original and stimulating study. Northern History

Based on impressive and wide-ranging research in national and local archives in the United Kingdom and in the Folger and Yale University Libraries in the United States, this is the first full-length study of its subject and its significance for the course, and ultimate outcome, of the English Revolution. R.C. Richardson, Clio a thoroughly researched study of changing sides during the Civil Wars. ... a very original and stimulating study. Northern History

Author Information

Andrew Hopper obtained his doctorate at the University of York in 1999. He then worked as a research fellow at the Universities of East Anglia and Birmingham before being appointed a 'new blood' lecturer in the Centre for English Local History at the University of Leicester in 2006. He has written many articles on allegiance during the civil wars, and has recently edited the papers of the Hothams for the Camden Society. He is best known for his monograph 'Black Tom': Sir Thomas Fairfax and the English Revolution (2007).

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