Selections from the Observator (1681-1687)

When England’s restored monarchy struggled to shape public opinion, a sixty‑five‑year‑old royalist named Sir Roger L’Estrange launched a daring new newspaper. From April 1681 to March 1687 he produced 931 single‑sheet issues of the Observator, each written as a lively dialogue that pitted opposing voices against one another. The paper blended official propaganda with the author’s fierce, reactionary convictions, turning the streets of London into a stage for polemic and wit.

Listening to these selections offers a vivid portrait of a turbulent era—heated debates over press freedom, religious tension, and the power of the Crown. L’Estrange’s sharp prose and the paper’s rapid, three‑times‑a‑week rhythm reveal how early journalism began to resemble the modern news cycle, while also exposing the personal vendettas that drove the era’s “bloodhound of the press.” For anyone curious about the roots of English periodicals, the Observator provides an engrossing, authentic glimpse into the birth of partisan journalism.