Richard Bachmann

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Richard Bachmann has posted two annotations/comments since 28 April 2023.

The most recent first…

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Third Reading

About Wednesday 23 May 1660

Richard Bachmann  •  Link

I have only joined this Pepysian colloquium in its third iteration. However if I may I'd respond to this day's annotations, though twenty years on.
Why do people now want a king, again or at all?
I suppose the first and obvious reference would be Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, sometimes tutor to Charles II.
Next I'd suggest the recently published and splendidly readable history of England's revolutionary 17 Century, The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey (https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/blazing-world-97815…).
Following that, if you'd like to follow the evolving notion of governance beyond Pepys's time, you might read David Runciman's Confronting Leviathan (https://profilebooks.com/work/confronting-leviath…).
History is to some extent the history of missed opportunities and the seventeenth century had more than its share. On the whole, the populace (and that select smaller group, the citizens) often value stability over radical restructuring. And given the tumult since 1640 who really could blame them?

About Saturday 28 April 1660

Richard Bachmann  •  Link

May I take advantage of this somewhat uneventful day to recommend a book. I’m presently reading The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey (Bloomsbury in the UK, Knopf in North America). Healey covers the period from 1603 to 1689: James I/VI to William and Mary, superbly explaining the ( unusually confusing) political, religious, and social tumults of this period. It should be of interest to all readers of SP’s diary.