1. This book is centrally about “radical ideas,” as much, if not more, than radical behavior. How does Christopher Hill define a “radical” idea and how does he explain why ideas could spread and be so influential? Do you agree?
2. Some historians have argued that Hill’s 17th-century “radical ideas” had precedents in English history.Do you find any such precedents in our studies of England since the 14th century? If so, what are such precedents or influences? If not, how do you explain their presence in the early and mid 1600s?
3. Define and discuss the Levellers or the Diggers. What were your choice’s major ideas and how did they express them? Assess your choice’s impact(s).
4. Why do you as an historian think that contemporaries felt so threatened by these groups, or at least by some of them? Who was threatened and what measures were taken to control these groups and their ideas?
5. Which group discussed in the book would you join and why? What would you do to promote your group and what oppositions would you face? Would you support Crown, Parliament or neither, and why?
