Schwoerer has identified a novel angle of approach to a well-studied period that will require reconsideration of familiar issues. Schwoerer makes a strong case that firearms were, if not omnipresent, at least extremely common in early modern England.
Brian Ditcham The Sixteenth Century Journal In her concise and ... Read morecolorful book, Lois G. Schwoerer tells the story about how England's own fascination with guns led it to adopt a right-to-have-arms provision in its Declaration of Rights of 1689, almost exactly one century before Americans adopted the Second Amendment in their Bill of Rights. What were the English thinking? Modern readers on both sides of the Atlantic will be in for an enjoyable ride
and some real surprises.
Carl Bogus, Roger Williams University, editor of The Second Amendment in Law and History: Historians and Constitutional Scholars on the Right to Bear Arms Lois Schwoerer has taken an intrinsically interesting topic and provided a great deal of fascinating and deeply researched information stretching back over five centuries. Thanks to this deep historical context, her book gives valuable insight into the current American debate on gun culture and the origin of 'the right to bear arms.'
Ian Gentles, Tyndale University College and Seminary, author of Oliver Cromwell: God's Warrior and the English Revolution Show Less