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Cargando... The Gunpowder Plot (1996)por Alan Haynes
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Every child has heard of Guy Fawkes and will most likely have watched a "guy" being burnt on a bonfire and fireworks lighting up the night sky on Bonfire Night. This book answers the questions of history that lie behind the celebrations of 5 November. Who was Guy Fawkes and how did he come to be below the chamber of the House of Lords in the first hour of November 5, 1605? What desperation drove those involved to plan a horrific massacre of the Protestant royal family and government? Alan Haynes's probing analysis offers the clearest, most balanced view yet of often conflicting evidence, as he disentangles the threads of disharmony, intrigue, betrayal, terror, and retribution. In this new, updated edition he gathers together startling evidence to uncover the depth and extent of the plot, and how close the plotters came to de-stabilizing the government in one of the most notorious terrorist plots of British history. This enthralling book will grip the general reader, while the scope of its detailed research will require historians of the period to consider again the commanding importance of the plot throughout the seventeenth century. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)942.061History and Geography Europe England and Wales England 1603–1714, House of Stuart and Commonwealth periods James I 1603-25Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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* Did the plotters start to mine under Parliament before realizing that they could rent a cellar directly beneath it? The “mine” figured heavily in government propaganda, depicting the plotters as hellish subterranean dwellers. Conspiracy theorists claim that there was no evidence of such a mine; Hayes refutes this.
* Was gunpowder a government monopoly, implying that the government must have supplied it to the plotters? Hayes notes that the government had granted a private firm a monopoly on the production of gunpowder in the London area, but the firm could sell to anybody and there’s plenty of evidence that they did.
* Was the Monteagle letter, sent to warn Catholic Lord Monteagle to avoid Parliament (Monteagle immediately turned it in), actually forged by the government? The letter is not in the handwriting of any of the known plotters, and is written on paper made in the Spanish Netherlands; the government had an outstanding forger in Thomas Phelippes (who is thought to have forged additions to some of Mary Queen of Scots letters to provide evidence for treason). Various suggestions have been made: one of the plotters (sometimes specifically Francis Tresham) writing in a disguised hand; Monteagle himself, who supposedly learned of the plot and wrote himself a letter so he could turn it in and disassociate himself; and miscellaneous other parties. Hayes is hesitant but comes out in favor of a government forgery. It’s very probable that the government already knew of the plot before the Monteagle letter was delivered due to the incompetence of the plotters; Salisbury turned the letter over to King James without too much comment, supposedly to allow James to figure out things for himself.
Hayes closes with an interesting epilogue; the possibility that the plot heavily influenced Macbeth. This was discussed in the Shakespeare-as-cryptoCatholic book Shadowplay, but Hayes comes to the opposite conclusion; Shakespeare was a firm Protestant and scenes from Macbeth mock and denigrate the plotters. I find these arguments pretty farfetched – contending that the “…farmer who hanged himself on the expectation of plenty” in the drunken porter scene is Jesuit Father Garnet because he sometimes used the alias “Farmer”, or that Birnam Wood signifies the tree that John Streete was standing behind when he shot Thomas Catesby and Thomas Percy with a single bullet, seems to be straining a little.
If you’re only interested in one book on the Plot, this one would be a good choice. ( )