Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3

Henry Hallam's monumental constitutional history examines the most volatile period in English governance: the reign of Charles I and the constitutional crises that shattered the kingdom. With the precision of a trained barrister and the scope of a philosopher, Hallam traces the collision between royal prerogative and parliamentary privilege, showing how Charles I's dissolution of parliament and subsequent prosecutions of voices like Sir John Eliot set the kingdom on the path to civil war. The work meticulously analyzes the crown's arbitrary measures - ship-money, the Star Chamber's weaponization, the erosion of common law protections - presenting not merely a chronicle of events but a forensic examination of how power both corrupts and provokes resistance. This volume stands as a foundational text in understanding the constitutional battles that birthed modern parliamentary democracy, revealing the tensions between absolute monarchy and representative government that remain relevant to any study of liberty and governance.