author
Sir Roger L'Estrange
1616–1704
A fierce Royalist voice in one of England’s most turbulent eras, he turned pamphlets, polemics, and journalism into political weapons. His career mixed literary energy with controversy, leaving a vivid mark on Restoration public life.
2 Audiobooks
Selections from the Observator (1681-1687)
by Sir Roger L'Estrange
Citt and Bumpkin (1680)
by Sir Roger L'Estrange
About the author
Born in Norfolk in 1616, Sir Roger L'Estrange became known as an English pamphleteer, translator, and early journalist whose writing was deeply tied to the political struggles of the seventeenth century. A committed supporter of the monarchy, he backed the Royalist cause during the English Civil War and remained a forceful defender of Charles II after the Restoration.
His life was anything but quiet. He was imprisoned for his political activities, later returned to prominence, and eventually served as a press censor and official surveyor of the printing press. That mix of politics, publishing, and personal combativeness made him one of the most controversial literary figures of his day.
L'Estrange is also remembered for the sheer range of his work. Alongside political writing, he produced translations and helped shape the world of early English journalism, showing how closely news, opinion, and power could be intertwined.