1st Edition
Writings of Exile in the English Revolution and Restoration
Writings of Exile in the English Revolution and Restoration opens a window onto exile in the years 1640-1680, as it is experienced across a broad spectrum of political and religious allegiances, and communicated through a rich variety of genres. Examining previously undiscovered and understudied as well as canonical writings, it challenges conventional paradigms which assume a neat demarcation of chronology, geography and allegiance in this seminal period of British and American history. Crossing disciplinary lines, it casts new light on how the ruptures -- and in some cases liberation -- of exile in these years both reflected and informed events in the public sphere. It also lays bare the personal, psychological and familial repercussions of exile, and their attendant literary modes, in terms of both inner, mental withdrawal and physical displacement.
Biography
Philip Major teaches English at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has published widely on seventeenth-century literature and is currently editing a volume of essays on Thomas Killigrew.
'Writings of Exile in the English Revolution and Restoration is an impressive study of the exiles that numerous Englishmen and women underwent, one that scholars of the seventeenth century will find valuable for its close and nuanced investigation of lesser-studied texts and authors. In it, Philip Major has gone a long way toward filling the gaps in the literary historical record, gaps that are often occasioned by defeat and banishment.' Seventeenth-Century News '... thoughtful and thought-provoking study of the writing of exile occasioned by the English Revolution and the Crown's subsequent Restoration.' Renaissance Quarterly 'One of the scholars most fruitfully and diligently working in the past few years to improve our understanding of the psychological and literary effects of defeat, banishment and dislocation in early modern England has been Philip Major. His new book... is the enlightening and meticulous culmination of this work.' Christopher D'Addario, Gettysburg College, USA in Seventeenth-Century News 'Despite the plethora of literature that has been published on the English Revolution and Restoration over the years, the topic of exile during this most exciting period of British history remains an understudied area ... Major has posted many important questions.' The History Woman's Blog
