William III

William III, William of Orange (1650-1702), is a key figure in English history. Grandson of Charles I and married to Mary, eldest daughter of James II, the pair became the object of protestant hopes after James lost the throne. Though William was personally unpopular - his continental ties the source of suspicion and resentment - Tony Claydon argues that William was key to solving the chronic instability of seventeenth-century Britain and Ireland. It took someone with a European vision and foreign experience of handling a free political system, to end the stand-off between ruler and people that had marred Stuart history. Claydon takes a thematic approach to investigate all these aspects in their wider context, and presents William as the crucial factor in Britain's emergence as a world power, and as a model of open and participatory government.

Introduction: William III in British and Irish History; Part 1 William's Life; Chapter 1 An Orange: William's career, 1650-88; Chapter 2 A Stuart? William's British Career, 1688-1702; Part 2 William and the Stuart Realms; Chapter 3 William and the English Constitution; Chapter 4 William and Political Party; Chapter 5 William and the English State; Chapter 6 William and the 'Three Kingdoms': England, Scotland and Ireland Conclusion: William's Place in History;