The Sun Rising

“A very lucid, exciting and well researched narrative of a part of British history which has been relatively neglected and yet is of vital and enduring importance for the development of Britain.”
—Ronald Hutton, author of The Witch

“A picturesque portrait of the nascent Great Britain in an extraordinary age of unification, expansion, and commercial experimentation. With sympathy and vigor, Anna Whitelock showcases many facets of this emerging world at home and overseas, ruled over by a fascinating monarch too often neglected and misunderstood by posterity.”
—Malcolm Gaskill, author of The Ruin of All Witches

“With its gripping storytelling combined with historical rigor, The Sun Rising is just the right kind of zesty treatment a neglected period needs. Fresh and fabulous.”
—Lucy Worsley

“Richly evocative and brilliantly provocative, The Sun Rising transports its readers far from Whitehall in pursuit of James I’s vision for a united, global Britain. From the plantations of Ireland and trading posts in Indonesia to the courts of Russia and Japan, Anna Whitelock’s compelling narrative looks afresh at James I, and at the idea of Britain that emerged during his reign—and which still resonates today.”
—Alice Hunt, author of Republic: Britain’s Revolutionary Decade, 1649-1660

“Fascinating, razor-sharp and shot through with uncanny resonances for the interesting times in which we live.”
—Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves

“Big, bold, bracing history . . . Whitelock gives us wide vistas, sharp insights and immersive prose; I can almost taste the salt and smell the sulphur.”
—Jessie Childs, author of The Siege of Loyalty House

“Assembling a large cast of explorers, envoys and entrepreneurs, Whitelock vividly underscores the vitality and global ambitions of early seventeenth-century Englishmen and their first Stuart king.”
—Clare Jackson, author of Devil-Land

“A majestic, brilliant account of the birth of an empire. Spectacularly good.”
—Peter Frankopan, author of The Earth Transformed