The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown

"That’s what we all really loved about it. You hear so much about the Civil War and the Restoration, but this republican period has a fascination all of its own and she really brings that out. I thought, ‘Why didn’t I know more about such a pivotal period in English history?’ It also gives you a very rounded view of Oliver Cromwell . He’s a figure whose name we all know, but fewer of us know what he was like or where he came from. I certainly didn’t, so I found that incredibly illuminating. It’s a terrifically researched work of history—erudite, but so brilliantly told. What Anna Keay has done is picked out the lives of fascinating people on different sides of the conflict. It’s easy to go straight to Samuel Pepys to hear about this period, but she’s done something really original. Of course, since we started judging the prize and read about Charles I and Charles II—and what happened in this restless republic between the two—we’ve now got Charles III on the throne and big debates about whether we still want a monarchy or what a monarch is for. It’s a very enjoyable work of history but, again, it has that topicality running through it. The other thing I found interesting is that within the space of just over a decade, we all thought, ‘No, we don’t want a monarch, let’s execute him.’ And then, 11 years later, ‘Yes, we do. Bring him back.’ So it’s also about how short people’s memories are. It’s terrific. I absolutely loved it."