Conspiracy and Virtue

moments of cogency, as when Wiseman exposes a 'mutually guaranteeing' double helix of private virtue and political loyalty in the memoirs of Anne Halkett, whose services as a Royalist conspirator were as distinguished as her judgement in sexual matters had been dubious (p.326) * Niall MacKenzie, Royal Stuart Review *
it is hard to imagine anyone working on seventeenth-century politics, religion, women, or literature who will fail to learn a great deal about at least some of the women [Wiseman] studied. * Barbara J.Harris, American Historical Review *
...meticulously researched and consistently insightful investigation of the relationship between women and politics...Conspiracy and Virtue is highly recommended to scholars working on women's writing in general and, more specifically, those who are interested in women's participation in the complex and shifting terrain of politics in the seventeenth century. * Orianne Smith, Womens Writing *
...rich and scholarly study...Her extensive knowledge of the political and religious communities and events of the mid-seventeenth century allows her to offer a series of illuminating interpretations of very specific contexts...[T]his study blends conceptual and analytical sophistication with an extraordinary breadth of knowledge of the history and literature of the seventeenth century, bringing together arguments in political theory, literary criticism and historiography to reshape our view both of seventeenth-century women and seventeenth-century politics. * Kate Hodgkin, Textual Practice *
a compelling exploration of women's relationships to the political sphere in the period 1620-88...valuable and timely * Hero Chalmers, Review of English Studies *