This chapter picks up right after the seismic events of 1688. King James II has fled, and William of Orange and his wife Mary have been offered the crown. But Macaulay makes it brilliantly clear that declaring a revolution over is much easier than actually finishing one.

The Story

The kingdom is a pressure cooker. William and Mary are now King and Queen, but their authority is shaky. Supporters of the exiled James—the Jacobites—are plotting. Parliament is a battleground, split between those who want to move forward and those clinging to old loyalties. Meanwhile, the nation is broke from the recent war, Scotland and Ireland are simmering with rebellion, and everyone is watching to see if this new constitutional experiment will collapse before it even starts. It's less about a single battle and more about the exhausting, day-by-day struggle to build a stable government from the wreckage of the old one.

Why You Should Read It

Macaulay has a gift for making political history feel urgent and human. He doesn't just list laws passed; he shows you the factions arguing over them. You get the sense of a nation holding its breath. His portraits of key figures, from the weary but determined William to the conflicted politicians in the Commons, are sharp and memorable. He reminds us that history isn't a smooth march of progress—it's a series of messy compromises and near-disasters.

Final Verdict

Perfect for anyone who loves a good political drama, but prefers theirs to be real. If you enjoy shows about the gritty, unglamorous work of governance after the big victory, this is your book. It’s for readers who want to understand not just what happened in 1689, but how it felt to live through it. A masterclass in turning parliamentary debates into a page-turner.