This is the last of three detailed guides covering the history of the seventeenth century. Its prequels, "Age of Donne" and "Age of Milton", are supplemented by a guide to the background of history in the seventeenth century called "The Seventeenth Century Background" that discusses issues such as religion, the constitution and succession during the period as a whole.
In this guide, details about key figures, events and concepts are generally to be found in the text itself, in italics to denote a footnoted section. They appear the sentence or paragaph after the footnote appears and are intended to provide background information about key figures and terms that may be unknown to the reader.