Secrets of the Kingdom: British Radicals from the Popish Plot to the Revolution of 1688-1689

This volume completes a trilogy that explores the history of British political and religious radicalism - in England, Scotland, Ireland, and British exile communities on the Continent - from the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 to the Revolution of 1688-89. The trilogy underscores both the continuity and the geographical range of dissident activity in all three kingdoms over nearly three decades.
Much of the present volume deals with the controversial conspiracies collectively (and misleadingly) known as the Rye House Plot. Whether these conspiracies actually existed has been disputed since the 1680's, and the problem of evaluating the evidence regarding them is complicated by the fact that both Whigs and Tories freely engaged in subornation, severely undermining the credibility of many accounts, not to mention the integrity of the judicial system. The book traces the complete history of the Rye House Plot, including the general uprising planned by Monmouth and his associates, the schemes to assassinate Charles and James, and the trials of a number of the conspirators. The author concludes that, on balance, the evidence affirms the existence of conspiracies against the crown.
The author describes and analyzes several other instances of radical activity: the assassination of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, the Bothwell Bridge rebellion, the Argyll and Monmouth rebellions, and the involvement of the radicals in the events leading up to the revolution of 1688-89. Historiographically, the book is part of a major reassessment of the late Stuart period which accords greater attention to the significance and contribution of British radicals. It is now clear that radical activity continued throughout the British Isles during the reigns of Charles II and James II, and even beyond, and that Restoration Nonconformists were not uniformly quiescent and passive.