1st Edition

An Analysis of Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upside Down Radical Ideas During the English Revolution

By Harman Bhogal, Liam Haydon Copyright 2017
    96 Pages
    by Macat Library

    96 Pages
    by Macat Library

    Few works of history have succeeded so completely in forcing their readers to take a fresh look at the evidence as Christopher Hill's The World Turned Upside Down – and that achievement is rooted firmly in Hill's exceptional problem-solving skills.

    Traditional interpretations of the English Civil War concentrated heavily on a top-down analysis of the doings of king and parliament. Hill looked at ‘history from below,’ focusing instead on the ways in which the people of Britain saw the society they lived in and nurtured hopes for a better future. Failing to understand these factors – and the impact they had on the origins and outcomes of the wars of the 1640s – means failing to understand the historical period. In this sense, Hill's influential work is a great example of the problem-solving skills of asking productive questions and generating alternative possibilities. It forced a generation of historians to re-evaluate the things they thought they knew about a key pivot point in British history – and went on to influence the generations that came after them.

    Ways in to the Text  

    Who was Christopher Hill?  

    What does The World Turned Upside Down Say?  

    Why does The World Turned Upside Down Matter?  

    Section 1: Influences 

    Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context 

    Module 2: Academic Context  

    Module 3: The Problem 

    Module 4: The Author's Contribution  

    Section 2: Ideas 

    Module 5: Main Ideas 

    Module 6: Secondary Ideas  

    Module 7: Achievement  

    Module 8: Place in the Author's Work 

    Section 3: Impact  

    Module 9: The First Responses  

    Module 10: The Evolving Debate 

    Module 11: Impact and Influence Today 

    Module 12: Where Next? 

    Glossary of Terms 

    People Mentioned in the Text  

    Works Cited

    Biography

    Dr Harman Bhogal holds a PhD in early Modern History from Birkbeck, London.

    Dr Liam Haydon holds a doctorate in English literature from Manchester University. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Kent, where his work focuses on the cultural impacts of global trade in the early seventeenth century.