In this book Melinda Zook examines the political culture of England during the 1670s and 1680s. She singles out an underground network of radical conspirators and propagandists who have been virtually ignored by historians. These men, and some women, were working to ensure a Protestant succession of the monarchy. In the course of their struggles with the government, their ideas became ever more radical and their tactics all the more violent. Their ideas reached an increasingly sympathetic and receptive audience, preparing the way for the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

Scholars of...