William III

William III, William of Orange (1650-1702), is a key figure in English history. Grandson of Charles I and married to Mary, eldest daughter of James II, the pair became the object of protestant hopes after James lost the throne. Though William was personally unpopular - his continental ties the source of suspicion and resentment - Tony Claydon argues that William was key to solving the chronic instability of seventeenth-century Britain and Ireland. This book takes a thematic approach to investigate all these aspects in their wider context, and presents William as the crucial factor in Britains emergence as a world power, and as a model of open and participatory government.