The most powerful man in England during the so-called "eleven years tyranny" from 1629-1640, William Laud was thrown from power in 1640 and executed. An esteemed scholar uncovers the social ideal that lay behind the controversial archbishop's political and religious conservatism-an ideal fatally obscured by Laud's human limitations. "A book that is, by any standards, brilliant."--New Statesman British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper is celebrated for his works on World War II and on Elizabethan history. His distinguished academic career includes professorships at Oxford and Cambridge.

First published in 1987, Archbishop William Laud shows how Laud dragged the English Church, and with it English society, towards a new and radical version of Anglicanism. Carlton presents Laud in the context of his times, showing how closely his personal life and character were woven into his political and religious career. By using Laud’s personal papers, his letters and diary, Carlton draws a psychological profile of this most insecure man. He analyses Laud’s dreams, revealing that both awake and asleep the archbishop was haunted by some guilty secret, obsessed with details, bedevilled by enemies and conspiracies, while being both ashamed and proud of his own humble origins. The tensions between Laud’s private and public worlds made him seem cruel, thus turning him into the perfect scapegoat for the failure of the king’s policies. This book will be of interest to students of history, literature and psychology.