E&R Week 1: Preconceptions of the 18th Century

The 18th Century represents a bit of a gap in my vague, broad strokes understanding of history. On the one side is the 17th Century, which in my head is all about the Civil War, and Catholics vs. Protestants etc. On the other is the 19th Century, which basically consists of lots of smudgy black and white photography, Jane Austin novels, Charles Darwin & Karl Marx. How the gap was bridged, I have no real idea.