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Article: Remember, remember; The Gunpowder Plot.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- November 5, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Wet behind the ears
ON NOVEMBER 5th 1605, a band of English Catholic hotheads planned to detonate 36 barrels of gunpowder under the House of Lords. The scheme, dubbed by one contemporary "the quintessence of Satan's policy", would have decapitated the nation by wiping out MPs, lords, bishops and the king. For sheer terrorist ambition, the plot remains unmatched. So why has this plan, and the capture, torture and public execution of the leading conspirators, been celebrated in Britain for the past four centuries?
"God's Secret Agents" suggests one reason why: anti-Catholic paranoia. The plot was the "popish" outrage that Protestants had expected and ...