Transforming The Word: Prophecy, Poetry, and Politics in England, 1650-1742

The radical prophets of the English civil wars were fascinating figures, combining a devout belief in the power of divine inspiration with a passionate desire for social change and a distinctly eccentric rhetorical style. Tracing the prophets who rant, rage, and wreak havoc through the works of Butler, Dryden, Mandeville, Pope, and other less familiar writers of the period, Transforming the Word pursues the fate of radical prophecy between 1660 and 1742.