Summary: Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins of Quakerism. In the mid-17th century an itinerant preacher, George Fox, became the central figure of the Religious Society of Friends. Persecuted for many years, particularly after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the Quakers survived to become an influential religious group, known for their pacifism and philanthropy. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London; John Coffey, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leicester and Kate Peters, Fellow in History at Murray Edwards College at the University of Cambridge.
