During this period modern English society and a modern state began to take shape, and England's position in the world was transformed.

The Century of Revolution tries to penetrate below the familiar events to grasp when happened-to ordinary English men and women as well as to kings and queens or abstractions like "society" and "the state."

In this new edition, Dr. Hill includes the most important conclusions of recent research and has added postscripts drawing attention to especially significant books.