A WILTSHIRE author is to give a talk online on Monday about the historical Puritan influences which gave rise to the American Republican Party and president Donald Trump.

Historian Martyn Whittock, from Bradford on Avon, is giving the talk to an online fundraising event, Why Trump and what now?, organised by Wiltshire Liberal Democrats in South West Wiltshire.

His 49th book Trump and The Puritans, published a year ago, looks at the reasons for Trump’s success and the continued impact of 17th century Puritans on modern society, particularly in America.

The discussion afterwards will ask where now for the American political right and Trump? Is he history? What does it tell us about the influences on right-wing British politics?

Mr Whittock, 62, a retired history teacher, said: “Donald Trump’s rise to power is a long story and is not a flash in the pan. The rise of right-wing Republicans in the USA is the result of events that happened in England several centuries ago.

“The scenes that happened recently on Capitol Hill are the consequence of the Puritan influence and it is not over yet. There is a right-wing culture building in the USA that has been going on since the 1960s and Trump is one of the more extreme versions of that. There is still a huge amount of people interested in the right-wing ideas which he represents.”

Mr Whittock taught history for 35 years, including at Kingdown School in Warminster, before retiring in 2016 to concentrate more fully on writing. He has co-authored some of his 50 books with his two daughters, Hannah, 31, and Esther, 27.

Mr Whittock has been a consultant for the BBC, English Heritage and the National Trust and has written for historical and archaeological journals. He is an Anglican lay minister in the Salisbury diocese.

Trump and The Puritans was published by Lion Hudson and was co-authored with journalist James Roberts, and is on sale at https://www.bitebackpublishing.com/authors/martyn-whittock

To hear the talk and join the debate at the South West Wiltshire Liberal Democrats event, which is open to the public, tickets at £12 are available via Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trump-and-the-puritans-book-review-with-co-author-martyn-whittock-tickets.