"The most misunderstood of English villains": Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
Prepare to blow up... your mind with a veritable treasure trove of information about a gunpowder plot gone wrong!
Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night is on this very evening, November 5th, as an annual celebration with bonfires and fireworks in remembrance of the failed gunpowder plot to kill the British Government and King James VI and I.
Why do we celebrate Guy Fawkes? Guy Fawkes and a group of men were part of a plot to blow up British Parliament to kill the King of England on the 5th of November. However, the government found out about the plot before the attack could take place. The government arrested Guy Fawkes and his conspirators, who were then convicted of treason. To celebrate the survival of the Parliament, they announced a national day, now known as Guy Fawkes Day. The first celebration was held on November 5, 1606. Today, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated with feasts, bonfires, and fireworks.
This black-and-white drawing of Guy Fawkes was actually created over 200 years after his death by illustrator George Cruikshank!
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If you’d like to read more about the history and alternative stories about Guy Fawkes, here’s a selection of books at the library:
- The Gunpowder Plot : terror in Shakespeare's England / Travers, James
- Pity for the Guy : a biography of Guy Fawkes / Davis, John Paul
- The Gunpowder Plot : terror & faith in 1605 / Fraser, Antonia
- Remember, remember the fifth of November : Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot / Sharpe, J. A
- Fawkes : a novel / Brandes, Nadine (ebook only)
- The Gunpowder Plot / Fitzgibbon, Sinead (ebook only)