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Home / Historical Periods / Restoration / Restoration London

Phase

Restoration London

1660–1685 CE

Restoration London changed quickly after Charles II returned. Theatres reopened, the court became a centre of fashion and scandal, coffee houses spread news and argument, and scientific culture developed through the Royal Society. The city also faced plague, fire and rebuilding.

The city mattered because it concentrated the tensions of the Restoration. Luxury and poverty, experiment and superstition, loyalty and conspiracy, rebuilding and trauma all existed together. London became a stage for the restored monarchy and a laboratory for the modern city.

Andrew Taylor’s Marwood and Lovett novels are especially rooted in Restoration London, while Rose Tremain’s Restoration and Iain Pears’s An Instance of the Fingerpost capture related worlds of medicine, science and social ambition. The setting suits murder mysteries, plague narratives, court stories, rebuilding plots and city-based series.

Related people for Restoration London

Catherine of Braganza1638–1705 Charles II of England1630–1685 Henrietta Anne Stuart1644–1670 Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth1649–1734 Louis XIV1638–1715 Nell Gwyn1650–1687 Oliver Cromwell1599–1658 Richard Cromwell1626–1712

Series

Series about Restoration London (1 series)

Thomas Chaloner in Order

by Susanna Gregory 16 books 4.3

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…

Books

27 Best Novels About Restoration London

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.

Non Fiction

1 Non-Fiction Book About Restoration London

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.