The Last Invasion of England

1688 and the Dutch Armada

Arthur der Weduwen

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9780691263434
  9780691263441
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691293707
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

An electrifying narrative history that reframes Britain’s constitutional revolution as a full-scale Dutch invasion

In popular accounts of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the autocratic Catholic King James II was ousted by his subjects and replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary Stuart, wife of James’s nephew, the Dutch William III of Orange. Devoted to her husband, Mary would not accept the crown alone, and so William and Mary were crowned together, securing a smooth dynastic succession. The Last Invasion of England recounts the forgotten campaign that carried William and his army to English shores and led directly to James’s fall, bringing a revolutionary age vividly to life—and rewriting the history of Britain, Europe and the transatlantic world more widely.

In this bold work of revisionist history, Arthur der Weduwen tells the momentous story of the Dutch Armada, describing the immense risks and near failures of the last seaborne invasion of England—which occurred exactly one hundred years after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The sixteen thousand Dutch troops who accompanied William were not on hand for moral support. They came with sword, musket and cannon. Der Weduwen argues that the political revolution in Britain could not have been achieved without the willpower, might and resources of William and the Dutch nation, and explains why the Dutch Republic, a small state that celebrated peace and commerce above all else, would dare to undertake a reckless preemptive military strike on its more powerful neighbour.

Transforming our understanding of the Glorious Revolution and Britain’s ascendancy as a global powerhouse, The Last Invasion of England relies entirely on contemporary sources, many from leading protagonists who prepared and executed the invasion, evoking the historical realities of the women and men who lived during turbulent and uncertain times.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Epigraphs
• Maps
• Introduction. ‘This reckless undertaking’
• Part I: Threat and Conspiracy (1677–1688)
• Part II: Armada (July–October 1688)
• Part III: Invasion (October–December 1688)
• Part IV: The Peril of Triumph (1689–1691)
• Coda. ‘Honour retained, costs saved’
• Dates, Terms and Currency
• The Size of the Dutch Armada
• Timeline
• Dramatis Personae
• Note on Sources
• Further Reading
• Abbreviations Used in the Notes
• Notes
• Select Bibliography
• Acknowledgements
• Index