BOOK REVIEW: Joshua Schröder on Richard S. KAY, The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law, Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2014, XI + 304 p. $ 59,95, ISBN 9780813226873

(image source: CUA press)




Joshua Schroeder (University of Buffalo, SUNY) reviewed Richard S. Kay's The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law (Catholic University of America Press, 2014). for H-War.

First paragraph:

The Glorious Revolution and the Continuity of Law by Richard S. Kay applies a legal perspective onto the Glorious Revolution. Like many major historical events, the Revolution of 1688 has received so much scholarly attention that one may wonder how somebody could offer a truly fresh perspective. However, as Kay seems well aware, the Glorious Revolution does not lend itself easily to categorization. Was the Glorious Revolution even a revolution? Should it be understood as its own event or merely the final chapter in the seventeenth-century English conflict with the Stuarts? Was it primarily a religious or political event? Kay argues that a legal analysis of the Glorious Revolution can provide the best perspective on answering these questions. He deftly weaves a discussion of all of these topics within his answer to the central question of his book: how did the revolutionaries reconcile their stated goal of preserving the English Constitution with the blatantly illegal deposition of one king and installment of another? His simple answer, they “faked” it, should not hurt appreciation for his thorough and careful analysis of the legal arguments made by the proponents and some detractors of the revolution (p. 17).

Read the full review here.