When god was king - Martyn J Whittock

Islam is not the only religion that has sought to take political power, or believed that it should be possible to create a theocracy. In the 17th century, Christians in the British Isles and North America attempted to follow the examples of 16th century European radicals of contrasting types, while attempting to learn from their mistakes - first in Scotland, and then Cromwell tried to impose just such a rule in the rest of the country. At the same time, millenarian groups planned a religious, political and social revolution to usher in the return of Christ; while others argued for something akin to communism. And even after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, there were sects, such as the Quakers, whose faith had a radical impact on their politics. Nor is Christian radicalism dead today - it has influenced politicians ever since.

Martyn Whittock is the author and co-author of forty-one books (with total sales in excess of 866,000 copies). As well as school history textbooks, these also include trade books aimed at making historical themes accessible to the general reader. His published Lion Books include:Christ the First 2000 Years,When God was King, andThe Vikings. Martynhas taught history at secondary level for thirty-five years. He has been a consultant for the BBC, English Heritage and the National Trust and has written for Medieval History magazine and archaeological journals.

"The Christian Church - particularly the Protestant bit of it - is particularly adept at bifurcation. This was never more evident than in the seventeenth century. Whittock leads us through the luxuriant undergrowth of politico-religious fragmentation and rival sincerities. His book well deserves to be set alongside Christopher Hill's classic The World Turned Upside Down." - Derek Wilson, historian and author