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Civil liberties - early pieces in a work of progress
By an Amazon.com customer
The Development of Religious Toleration in England: From the Beginning of the English Reformation to the Death of Queen ElizabethThe Development of Religious Toleration in England: From the Beginning of the English Reformation to the Death of Queen Elizabeth by W.K. Jordan
First of 4 volumes in a series tracing the 'prehistory' of religious toleration - accepted in principle by 1640 or so - which in turn became the proving ground for civil liberties in the latter 1600s.
Puritanism and Revolution: Studies in Interpretation of the English Revolution of the 17th CenturyPuritanism and Revolution: Studies in Interpretation of the English Revolution of the 17th Century by Christopher Hill
Buy new: $42.00 / Used from: $19.98
Essays by eminent (& recently deceased) English historian Christopher Hill, on topics arising from his work on Religion, Politics, and Revolution in Britain in the 1600s.
The English Bible and the 17th-century RevolutionThe English Bible and the 17th-century Revolution by Christopher Hill
Buy used from: $22.33
Hill found that understanding how people read the Bible became very relevant to his reading of radical change in England. Modern-day Fifth-Monarchists ~=~ Ashcroft, Boykin, et alia?!?
A Glimpse of Sion's Glory: Puritan Radicalism in New England, 1620-1660A Glimpse of Sion's Glory: Puritan Radicalism in New England, 1620-1660 by Philip F. Gura
Buy used from: $26.69
A good look at a broad, grass-roots movement at the cusp of radical religion and politics. New England was a "proving ground" for anxious Puritans, turning out in several unexpected directions.
Free-Born John: A Biography of John LilburneFree-Born John: A Biography of John Lilburne by Pauline Gregg
Buy new: $15.56 / Used from: $11.36
Biography of the one person who probably did the most to actively articulate & promote civil liberties in early development in Anglo-Amer constitutional law. (Gang of 4: Coke, Lilburne, Penn & Locke.)
The English Levellers (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)The English Levellers (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)
Buy new: $28.99 / Used from: $6.59
Documents of the civilian-soldier campaign -- called "Levellers" by opponents who felt wealth, status and property were at stake. (And were they?)
George Bishop: Seventeenth-Century Soldier Turned QuakerGeorge Bishop: Seventeenth-Century Soldier Turned Quaker by Maryann S. Feola
Buy new: $16.95
A soldier of the English Civil Wars, turned "Leveller," turned Quaker.
The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (Penguin History)The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution (Penguin History) by Christopher Hill
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $4.88
Hill's homage to the diversity & intensity of radical thinking during the English civil wars. Critiqued as misleading about the broad popularity these ideas had (or didn't have). But oh, those ideas!
Ranters Run Amok: And Other Adventures in the History of the LawRanters Run Amok: And Other Adventures in the History of the Law by Leonard W. Levy
Buy new: $26.50 / Used from: $0.01
Levy's first chapter, actually about Ranters Run Amok, fits nicely against these collected stories about his academic career. Just about everything by Levy is useful, in terms of legal developments.
James Nayler, 1618-1660: The Quaker Indicted by ParliamentJames Nayler, 1618-1660: The Quaker Indicted by Parliament by William G. Bittle
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James Nayler - one of two books here on the suppression of a radical sect (Quakers) that had emerged in the wake of the English Civil Wars.
The Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free SpiritThe Sorrows of the Quaker Jesus: James Nayler and the Puritan Crackdown on the Free Spirit by Leo Damrosch
Buy new: $57.50 / Used from: $8.49
An early test-case for civil liberties and church/state separation, showing how well brash spiritual insights might be accepted (not much) under the Interregnum government.
Commonwealth to Protectorate (Phoenix Press)Commonwealth to Protectorate (Phoenix Press) by Austin Woolrych
Buy used from: $3.89
A study of conventional politics in time of turmoil, an early "first-pass" at trying, in a reconstituted government, to reconcile issues of state, religion, liberty, democracy, property and propriety.
The Light in Their Consciences: Faith, Practices, and Personalities in Early British Quakerism, 1646-1666The Light in Their Consciences: Faith, Practices, and Personalities in Early British Quakerism, 1646-1666 by Rosemary Anne Moore
Buy new: $43.95 / Used from: $36.80
Recent study of the early Quaker movement, at its spread and social organization. Rosemary Moore brings fresh appreciation for the subtle interpersonal and spiritual dynamics.
Deliver Us from Evil: The Radical Underground in Britain, 1660-1663Deliver Us from Evil: The Radical Underground in Britain, 1660-1663 by Richard L. Greaves
Buy new: $125.00 / Used from: $106.37
Looks mainly at conspiratorial and militaristic challenges to the re-established monarchy in Britain, with some material on a broader civil dissent movement that would not be so easily brushed aside.
Enemies Under His Feet: Radicals and Nonconformists in Britain, 1664-1677Enemies Under His Feet: Radicals and Nonconformists in Britain, 1664-1677 by Richard L. Greaves
Buy used from: $96.95
2nd of the pair by Greaves. Carries the above theme further into the broader and more persistant threats to the re-constituted establishment.
The Quakers and the English Legal System, 1660-1688The Quakers and the English Legal System, 1660-1688 by Craig W. Horle
Buy used from: $11.50
Important. Misses the continuities from before the restoration (e.g., Lilburne) and neglects the broader impact of the Quaker and nonconformist struggle for toleration, but covers a crucial stage.
The Many-Headed Hydra: The Hidden History of the Revolutionary AtlanticThe Many-Headed Hydra: The Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic by Marcus Rediker
Buy new: $19.92 / Used from: $11.99
A fun book. Not much on civil liberties per se, but a useful antidote to the emphasis here on the development of legal, state, and constitutional apparatus.
William Penn (Profiles in Power (London, England).)William Penn (Profiles in Power (London, England).) by Mary K. Geiter
Buy new: $39.80 / Used from: $1.23
Penn as a man of Power, more enmeshed in the power-system of his day than his admirers might like, but still contributing to an important line of dissent with contributions to US liberties.
William Penn: Politics and ConscienceWilliam Penn: Politics and Conscience by Mary Maples Dunn
Buy used from: $12.45
A filler for this list. Okay as an overview, but in the context of Present Times, it seems rather shallow alongside some of these other books.
Quakers And Politics: Pennsylvania 1681-1726Quakers And Politics: Pennsylvania 1681-1726 by Gary B. Nash
Buy used from: $1.64
Argues that the Pennsylvania 'Holy Experiment' laid a coherent and practical foundation of civil rights and religious liberties. Challenges the prevailing academic disdain for Quaker contribution.
A Perfect Freedom: Religious Liberty in Pennsylvania (Cambridge Studies in Religion and American Public Life)A Perfect Freedom: Religious Liberty in Pennsylvania (Cambridge Studies in Religion and American Public Life) by Jerry William Frost
Buy used from: $39.33
A fairly recent work, reviews conceptual and institutional development of religious liberties in Penna, and by extension in the nascent USA.
The Colonial Metamorphoses in Rhode Island: A Study of Institutions in Change (Revisiting New England)The Colonial Metamorphoses in Rhode Island: A Study of Institutions in Change (Revisiting New England)
Buy used from: $5.00
This book stands in for many re: developments in other colonies. But Penna *was* unique and made contributions that are obscured by the view that pacifist Quakers were traitors to the revolution.
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson
Buy new: $14.96 / Used from: $8.65
A glimpse of the dawn of Empire -- British, to be followed by American -- and world wars. Provides an entirely new setting for issues of civil liberties -- new opportunities and inherent difficulties.
Exiles in Virginia: With Observations on the Conduct of the Society of Friends During the Revolutionary WarExiles in Virginia: With Observations on the Conduct of the Society of Friends During the Revolutionary War by Thomas Gilpin
Buy used from: $28.49
Reprint of a report compiled by a Quaker after the American revolution about how badly Quakers were treated by the Sons of Liberty, et al.
Origins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self-IncriminationOrigins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self-Incrimination by Leonard W. Levy
Buy new: $16.20 / Used from: $4.49
One of Levy's many books on the deeper roots of our "Rights," the product of generations of struggle -- rights which turn out not to be as inalienable as we might wish.