James Sharpe

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

Guy Fawkes is amongst the most celebrated figures in English history and Bonfire Night is a remarkably long lived and very English tradition. But why is it that in a modern, multicultural society people still turn out every November to commemorate a planned act of treason and terrorism which was defeated four hundred years ago? Had the Gunpowder Plot succeeded and the Catholics managed to blow up the king, the royal family and Parliament, English history would have been shaped by a terrorist act of unprecedented proportions, shattering in terms of both the damage inflicted and its propaganda value. James Sharpe examines the fateful night of 5 November 1605 and the tangled web of religion and politics which gave rise to the plot. He uncovers how celebration of the event, and of Guy Fawkes, the one gunpowder plotter everyone remembers, has changed over the centuries.

Paperback: 240 Pages

Language: English

Format: Hardcover & Paperback

3.5/5
Reviewed By Reviewed By Violeta Nedkova
“Highly original, lucid, comprehensive, skeptical, and the best all-round account, this book is beautifully written too.”