Royalty Restored; Or, London Under Charles II

A detailed social history of the royal court and the capital during the Restoration, assembled from diaries, memoirs, letters, tracts, and official papers. It reconstructs the monarch's domestic life and the habits of courtiers, salon culture, entertainments, and the private intrigues that shaped courtly reputation. Parallel chapters portray urban London: popular pastimes, manners, municipal crises such as epidemic and conflagration, the workings of the royal household, and the political and religious controversies that rippled through society. The book emphasizes contemporary testimony and documentary sources to present a rounded picture of elite and popular life under the restored regime.