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happlepider's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
An excellent example of narrative historical fiction, with a compelling through-line of the impact that the plot had on the catholic population at the time in a way that compares to how present day terrorism impacts present day marginalised groups, while humanising the plotters (and intended victims) themselves.
pussreboots's review
5.0
The Gunpowder Plot is one of the best history texts I've read. It does have moments where it dwells too long in setting up the events but fortunately those moments are not the majority of the book. The Gunpower Plot / Guy Fawkes day is not something taught in U.S. schools (or if it is, it's glossed over) so I came to this book note knowing much and came away having learned a great deal. There are also three sections of lovely illustrations of paintings and such that were worth looking at.
librarianonparade's review
4.0
'Remember, remember the fifth of November...'
And we do, some four hundred years on. The memory of the Gunpowder Plot lingers on to this day in the ritual bonfire and effigy of Guy Fawkes on Bonfire Night on the 5th November, in the ceremonial searching of the vaults and cellars of the House of Lords on the eve of the Opening of Parliament, in the perennial joke regarding Guy Fawkes being 'the only man to ever enter Parliament with honest intentions'. However, it is likely that the majority of those celebrating on the 5th November know very little about the historical context of the Plot, the virulent anti-Catholicism of Jacobean England, the players other than Guy Fawkes (who actually had a relatively marginal role and certainly wasn't one of the instigators), the subsequent hunt and trials of those accused, the executions and martyrdom of plotters and priests.
This is a complex story, with many players, both high and low, but Fraser lays it out clearly and concisely. The history of the Gunpowder Plot has long been riven by controversy and arguments between No-Plotters (those who believe that the Plot was manufactured and contrived by Robert Cecil, Secretary of State under both Elizabeth I and James I, as an excuse to crack down on Catholicism) and the Pro-Plotters (those who believe there was indeed a Plot, conceived and carried out by Catholic recusants) - Fraser navigates a diplomatic path between these two sides, coming down on the whole with the Pro-Plotters, albeit with a few caveats about how much Cecil knew and when.
The Gunpowder Plot, as the title 'terror and faith' illustrates, was simply an early example of what we today know as terrorism - wherever minorities are oppressed for reasons of faith (or ethnicity or political affiliation or any number of reasons) there will always be a small number who will feel that the only recourse is to violence. That they are often driven to such extremes by deprivation of rights, repressive legislation and societal discrimination is the real tragedy. Indeed, the Gunpowder Plot was described at the time as a 'heavy and doleful tragedy', although who exactly were the tragic heroes is best left to individual opinion.
And we do, some four hundred years on. The memory of the Gunpowder Plot lingers on to this day in the ritual bonfire and effigy of Guy Fawkes on Bonfire Night on the 5th November, in the ceremonial searching of the vaults and cellars of the House of Lords on the eve of the Opening of Parliament, in the perennial joke regarding Guy Fawkes being 'the only man to ever enter Parliament with honest intentions'. However, it is likely that the majority of those celebrating on the 5th November know very little about the historical context of the Plot, the virulent anti-Catholicism of Jacobean England, the players other than Guy Fawkes (who actually had a relatively marginal role and certainly wasn't one of the instigators), the subsequent hunt and trials of those accused, the executions and martyrdom of plotters and priests.
This is a complex story, with many players, both high and low, but Fraser lays it out clearly and concisely. The history of the Gunpowder Plot has long been riven by controversy and arguments between No-Plotters (those who believe that the Plot was manufactured and contrived by Robert Cecil, Secretary of State under both Elizabeth I and James I, as an excuse to crack down on Catholicism) and the Pro-Plotters (those who believe there was indeed a Plot, conceived and carried out by Catholic recusants) - Fraser navigates a diplomatic path between these two sides, coming down on the whole with the Pro-Plotters, albeit with a few caveats about how much Cecil knew and when.
The Gunpowder Plot, as the title 'terror and faith' illustrates, was simply an early example of what we today know as terrorism - wherever minorities are oppressed for reasons of faith (or ethnicity or political affiliation or any number of reasons) there will always be a small number who will feel that the only recourse is to violence. That they are often driven to such extremes by deprivation of rights, repressive legislation and societal discrimination is the real tragedy. Indeed, the Gunpowder Plot was described at the time as a 'heavy and doleful tragedy', although who exactly were the tragic heroes is best left to individual opinion.
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