The Crown's Servants

Book excerpt: The Crown's Servants is a major new study of English central government and the royal court from the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 to the death of Charles II in 1685. A sequel to the author's two earlier studies, of royal officials under Charles I (1625-1642) and office-holders under the Commonwealth and the Cromwellian Protectorate (1649-1660), it sets out to explore the extent to which the restoration of the monarchy undid the changes brought about under the Republic. The author looks at the institutions of government, its methods and procedures, the terms and conditions of service, and its personnel both collectively and individually. He considers the policies, tasks, successes, and failures of the regime, and relates these to the process of state formation and to the impact of the state on society. This is both the culmination of a lifetime's work and a crucial contribution in its own right to the history of seventeenth century England and the development of English government.