Gaby Mahlberg

• Henry Neville and English Republican Culture in the Seventeenth Century is the first full-length study of the republican Henry Neville in his many facets as country gentleman, politician, political thinker, rebel and libeller. It traces the development of Neville's political thought from the English Civil Wars to the Exclusion Crisis and beyond, while also challenging the way in which the history of ideas has been conceptualised in recent years by discussing Neville's political theory alongside his lesser known libels, shams and poetry. The book also challenges an established view of Neville based on his collaboration with the better-known philosopher James Harrington and shows Neville as a political thinker in his own right. While studies of early modern English republicanism tend to focus on the Interregnum, Neville's Plato redivivus, which promoted a restructuring of the political order, was only published after the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy. This study therefore draws attention to long-term continuities in EnglishHenry Neville and English Republican Culture in the Seventeenth Century is the first full-length study of the republican Henry Neville in his many facets as country gentleman, politician, political thinker, rebel and libeller. It traces the development of Neville's political thought from the English Civil Wars to the Exclusion Crisis and beyond, while also challenging the way in which the history of ideas has been conceptualised in recent years by discussing Neville's political theory alongside his lesser known libels, shams and poetry. The book also challenges an established view of Neville based on his collaboration with the better-known philosopher James Harrington and shows Neville as a political thinker in his own right. While studies of early modern English republicanism tend to focus on the Interregnum, Neville's Plato redivivus, which promoted a restructuring of the political order, was only published after the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy. This study therefore draws attention to long-term continuities in English republican thought and introduces the concept of anti-patriarchalism to focus on what Neville and other republicans writing before 1649 or after 1660 had in common. They shared their opposition to tyranny, not monarchy, and aimed to limit the discretionary powers of the executive - a concern which links the debates between the Long Parliament and the King of 1641 to Neville's proposals to limit the powers of the Crown in 1681. The author's engagement with Neville's reputation as an atheist and crypto-Catholic also sheds new light on the role of religion in republican thought.…