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Professor Tom Charlton explores the thoughts and life of Richard Baxter. Pamphleteer, preacher and troublemaker at the heart of England's upheaval amidst Civil War and Restoration. Tried for subverting the government in 1685, Baxter's life had been turned upside down by Civil War, Regicide and the topsy turvy Restoration. His own exhaustive but partial account of his life is a key source for anyone trying to understand the religious and political dilemmas facing the generation who challenged the idea of monarchy and argued for many of the freedoms enshrined in the new democracy to come. Baxter was the essence of non-conformity. At odds with Cromwell yet supporter of his son Richard, precisely at the moment when the monarchy was about to be restored. His dreams of a Holy Commonwealth set him at odds with those forces returned to power by the Restoration. Tom Charlton is one of a new generation of scholars seeking to interpret the life and deeds of one of the 17th century's most important figures.