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Historical person

Charles II of England

1630–1685

Charles II was king of England, Scotland and Ireland from the Restoration in 1660 until 1685. After years of exile following his father’s execution, he returned to a monarchy constrained by parliament but sustained by court patronage and political skill.

His reign included the plague, the Great Fire of London, wars with the Dutch and intense conflict over religion and succession. He had many acknowledged illegitimate children but no legitimate heir. Charles II of England was born in St James's Palace and died in Palace of Whitehall.

In G. A. Henty’s When London Burned, Historical figures including Charles II of England and Samuel Pepys connect the fictional action directly to the documented events. Peter Ackroyd’s Civil War opens with the accession of James VI of Scotland as James I of England and ends with the deposition and flight of James II in 1688. Further fictional perspectives on Charles II of England can be found in Jean Plaidy’s A Health Unto His Majesty. For broader historical treatment of Charles II of England, see John Miller’s Early Modern Britain, 1450–1750, Linda Porter’s Mistresses, Charles Spencer’s Prince Rupert, and Antonia Fraser’s The Weaker Vessel.

Periods

Periods linked to Charles II of England

Great Fire of London1666 CE Restoration1660–1685 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Charles II of England (16 series)

Damian Seeker in Order

by S. G. MacLean 6 books 4.4(25,174)

The Damian Seeker series follows the feared intelligence officer who serves Oliver Cromwell during the Commonwealth and Protectorate. Beginning in London in 1654, Seeker investigates murders and conspiracies among soldiers, lawyers, religious radicals, Royalist exiles and government spies, using the authority of Cromwell’s guard while concealing his own…

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Thomas Chaloner in Order

by Susanna Gregory 15 books 4.3(11,693)

The Thomas Chaloner mysteries follow a former Commonwealth intelligencer attempting to survive after the restoration of Charles II. Employed by the Earl of Clarendon, Chaloner works inside a court that distrusts his Parliamentarian past, investigating murder, corruption and political conspiracy in London during the first turbulent years of…

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James Marwood & Cat Lovett in Order

by Andrew Taylor 6 books 4.2(56,565)

Andrew Taylor’s Restoration series follows James Marwood, the son of a former Fifth Monarchist who becomes a government clerk and investigator, and Cat Lovett, the daughter of a regicide who rebuilds her life as an architect. Beginning with the Great Fire of London in 1666, their separate paths…

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Morland Dynasty in Order

by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 36 books 4.4(27,265)

The Morland Dynasty is a thirty-six-book family saga tracing the fictional Morlands of Yorkshire from 1434 to the approach of the Second World War. Beginning with the marriage of Robert Morland and Eleanor, a ward of the Beaufort family, the sequence follows successive generations as Morland Place grows…

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Holcroft Blood in Order

by Angus Donald 3 books 4.4(1,874)

The Holcroft Blood trilogy follows a mathematically gifted gunner through the political and military crises of Restoration Britain. Blood’s Game begins with his service to the Duke of Buckingham and his father Colonel Blood’s attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. Blood’s Revolution moves through Sedgemoor and the conspiracy…

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The Stuarts in Order

by Jean Plaidy 7 books 4.3(2,560)

The Stuart novels explore the dynasty from the restoration of Charles II through the Revolution of 1688 and the early eighteenth-century struggle over succession. Court intrigue, royal favourites, hidden marriages and confessional rivalry reveal a monarchy repeatedly threatened by its own family divisions.

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The Puritan Princess in Order

by Miranda Malins 2 books 4.2(756)

Miranda Malins’s two Cromwell-family novels tell the story of Oliver Cromwell’s daughters across the English Civil War, Commonwealth and Protectorate. The Rebel Daughter follows Bridget Cromwell from 1643 through her marriages to Parliamentarian generals Henry Ireton and Charles Fleetwood, while The Puritan Princess turns to her younger sister…

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Historical Romances in Order

by Georgette Heyer 9 books 4.3(16,123)

This collection brings together Georgette Heyer’s historical novels set outside her main Regency-romance sequence. The settings range from medieval England and France to the Norman Conquest, Elizabethan maritime conflict, the escape of Charles II and the Peninsular War. The list follows the ordering supplied by the Fantastic Fiction…

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Betsy Brand Mystery in Order

by John Pilkington 2 books 4.2(1,168)

The Betsy Brand mysteries follow a professional actress in Restoration London as the skills of the stage draw her into investigation and espionage. In After the Fire, a murder at Dorset Gardens Theatre leads Betsy back to secrets born in the Great Fire; The Judas Blade sends her…

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Sword of State in Order

by Richard Woodman 3 books 4.2(439)

The Sword of State trilogy fictionalises the career of George Monck, the soldier and naval commander whose shifting service helped carry England from civil war through the Commonwealth to the Restoration. The novels follow Monck from imprisonment and divided loyalty to campaigns in Ireland and Scotland, war with…

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Kit Faulkner Naval Adventures in Order

by Richard Woodman 3 books 4.0(1,704)

The Kit Faulkner Naval Adventures follow an orphan raised in the maritime world of Bristol who becomes a merchant captain as Stuart England moves towards civil war. Kit’s professional rise draws him into piracy, privateering, royal service and the struggle between Crown and Parliament. The trilogy carries Faulkner…

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Restoration in Order

by Edward Marston 6 books 4.1(4,257)

The Restoration mysteries bring together architect Christopher Redmayne and Puritan constable Jonathan Bale in London after the Great Fire of 1666. Redmayne is connected to courtly and theatrical society, while Bale views the same city through parish duty and religious suspicion; their contrasting perspectives make them effective but…

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The Baroque Cycle in Order

by Neal Stephenson 3 books 4.2(97,375)

The Baroque Cycle follows Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe and Eliza through the political, scientific and financial transformation of Europe between the Restoration and the Hanoverian succession. Historical figures including Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Louis XIV share the narrative with fictional natural philosophers, soldiers, spies, merchants and…

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Helier L’Eree Trilogy in Order

by Christopher Nicole 3 books 4.0(123)

Written originally as Caroline Gray, the Helier L’Eree trilogy combines seventeenth-century warfare with witchcraft and gothic adventure. Helier’s mother is executed as a witch on Guernsey, and his attempt at revenge leads to service under Cardinal Richelieu and an assassination mission during the Thirty Years’ War. The sequels…

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Mandeville Series in Order

by Geoffrey Trease 3 books 3.4(15)

The Mandeville Series follows Sir Renold Mandeville and a recurring circle of servants, secretaries, performers and musicians through the political and cultural world of seventeenth-century England. Mandeville introduces the household during the reign of Charles I, while Saraband for Shadows returns to the characters after the civil wars…

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English Commonwealth Sequence in Order

by Geoffrey Trease 3 books 3.8(33)

The English Commonwealth Sequence follows connected lives across the upheavals that began with civil war and continued through the Restoration and the succession crisis of 1685. Silver Guard opens amid the First English Civil War, Grey Adventurer follows the consequences of the Stuart return in London and colonial…

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Standalone books

Standalone books featuring Charles II of England (10 books)

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Charles II of England (12 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.