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'The Horrid Popish Plot': Roger L'Estrange and the Circulation of Political Discourse in Late Seventeenth-Century London

This 160,000-word monograph, produced over a ten-year period, re-appraises the Popish Plot and its political repercussions. Its scale and complexity required a cross-disciplinary approach, engaging with political history, the history of the book and reading, literary criticism and biography, and needed extensive archival work in print and manuscript. It challenges previous interpretations by expanding the scope of enquiry to include the voluminous printed discourse generated by the plot, tracing its production and impact with an unprecedented level of detail. It also argues that Roger L’Estrange – the period’s most prolific commentator (3,000,000 words) – played a crucial role in shaping political debate.

This 160,000-word monograph re-appraises the Popish Plot and its political repercussions. It revisits the archives and challenges previous histories by expanding the scope of study to include the voluminous printed discourse generated by the Plot.Archival work was extensive in both printed and manuscript materials. The book places the previously-overlooked Roger L’Estrange – the most prolific commentator on the plot and the ensuing political crisis (around 3,000,000 words) – at the centre of political debate. The study’s breadth and complexity required a cross-disciplinary approach, engaging the fields of political history, the history of the book and reading, literary criticism and biography