Molière: A Playwright and His Audience

Molière: A Playwright and His Audience
Author: William Driver Howarth
Publisher: CUP Archive
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1982-07
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780521286794

This study explores the evolution of Molière's comedy as a careful amalgamation of comedy and philosophical satire.

The Fall

The Fall
Author: Henry Reece
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2024-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300277628

Why did England’s one experiment in republican rule fail? Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658 sparked a period of unrivalled turmoil and confusion in English history. In less than two years, there were close to ten changes of government; rival armies of Englishmen faced each other across the Scottish border; and the Long Parliament was finally dissolved after two decades. Why was this period so turbulent, and why did the republic, backed by a formidable standing army, come crashing down in such spectacular fashion? In this fascinating history, Henry Reece explores the full story of the English republic’s downfall. Questioning the accepted version of events, Reece argues that the restoration of the monarchy was far from inevitable—and that the republican regime could have survived long term. Richard Cromwell’s Protectorate had deep roots in the political nation, the Rump Parliament mobilised its supporters impressively, and the country showed little interest in returning to the old order until the republic had collapsed. This is a compelling account that transforms our understanding of England’s short-lived period of republican rule.