Albion Ascendant English History, 1660-1815

by Prest, Wilfrid

• ISBN13: 9780198204183
• ISBN10: 0198204183
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-09-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Between the restoration of Charles II and the battle of Waterloo, England gradually emerged as the core nation of the most formidable superpower the world had yet seen. Wilfrid Prest investigates this remarkable transformation from domestic instability and external weakness to global,economic, and military predominance. Geographically, the main focus is on England and Wales, but Prest also analyses the broader British context, discussing the role played by Ireland and Scotland, as well as the interrelations between England, Europe, and the wider world. He examines the lives ofordinary people as well as the ruling elite, and explores the distinctive nature of women's experiences, allowing the voices of the past to speak directly to the modern reader. The result is a lively, up-to-date, and comprehensive overview of Britain's 'long eighteenth century'. It will remain astandard text on the subject for many years to come.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Maps, and Table	xv
List of Abbreviations	xvi
PART I: RESTORATION ENGLAND, 1660--1688	1	(56)
England and the English	3	(31)
Time, Land, People	3	(4)
Getting and Spending	7	(5)
Hierarchies	12	(4)
Government	16	(4)
Church and Dissent	20	(3)
Culture and Ideas	23	(5)
England, Britain, Europe, and the Wider World	28	(6)
Settlement Deferred	34	(23)
Restoration, Accommodation, Demobilization	34	(2)
Cavaliers, Conspirators, Dissenters	36	(2)
Charles II and the Crisis of 1666--1667	38	(3)
Unstable Alliances, 1668--1677	41	(3)
Popish Plot, Reaction, and Proscription	44	(5)
James II, 1685--1688: A Threat to Church and State?	49	(3)
William of Orange and the Protestant Wind	52	(5)
PART II: POST-REVOLUTIONARY ENGLAND, 1689--1715	57	(50)
Glorious Revolution?	59	(10)
Revolutionary Practice and Principles	59	(3)
Crown and Parliament	62	(3)
Law, Liberty, and Toleration: How Much and for Whom?	65	(1)
Historians and the Revolution	66	(3)
The Rage of Party	69	(12)
Political Assumptions, Ideologies, Structures	69	(3)
War and Peace, 1689--1701	72	(3)
Queen Anne and a Church Militant, 1702--1710	75	(3)
Jacobitism and the Protestant Succession, 1710--1715	78	(3)
War and the State	81	(12)
Revolution, Diplomacy, and War	81	(1)
The Sinews of War	82	(4)
The State's Servants	86	(3)
Great Britain as World Power	89	(4)
Trade and the Towns	93	(14)
Commercial Revolution	93	(3)
Middling Orders	96	(3)
Urbanity: London and the Provinces	99	(4)
Economic Concepts and Calculations	103	(4)
PART III: GREAT BRITAIN: LIBERTY AND PROPERTY, 1707--1745	107	(52)
The State of the Union	109	(11)
Defoe's England	109	(2)
Wales	111	(2)
Scotland	113	(3)
Ireland	116	(4)
From Party Strife to One-Party Rule	120	(14)
The Elector of Hanover, King George I	120	(2)
The Venetian Oligarchy Inaugurated	122	(3)
Parliamentary Management	125	(2)
Opposition, War and Walpole's Fall	127	(4)
Crown and Parliament: Who Ruled Britain?	131	(3)
Religious Belief and Practice	134	(13)
Church and Chapel	134	(4)
Latitudinarianism and Freethinking	138	(2)
`Serving the Designs of Enthusiasm'	140	(3)
Confessional State or Secularizing Society?	143	(4)
Production and Consumption	147	(12)
The Landed Interest: Depression and Improvement	147	(3)
Manufactures and Manufacturing	150	(2)
Consumers and Consumerism	152	(4)
Government and the Economy	156	(3)
PART IV: EMPIRES WON AND LOST, 1746--1788	159	(78)
People	161	(26)
Population Growth	161	(1)
The Common People	162	(6)
`The Upper Part of Mankind'	168	(4)
Childhood	172	(2)
Education and Literacy	174	(5)
Love and Marriage	179	(5)
Minorities	184	(3)
Politics, Popularity, and Patriotism	187	(12)
The Old Corps: Pelham and Newcastle	187	(2)
William Pitt and War with France	189	(3)
A New Reign, a New Politics?	192	(3)
`Wilkes and Liberty!'	195	(4)
Ruling Institutions	199	(12)
Blackstone and the Rule of Law	199	(3)
Crime and Punishment	202	(3)
The Established Church, Dissent, and Disability	205	(6)
Burdens and Fruits of Empire	211	(13)
Attitudes to Empire	211	(1)
George III, Lord North, and the American Revolution	212	(2)
The Strains of War	214	(2)
Ireland: Patriots and Volunteers	216	(2)
Pitt and Recovery	218	(2)
India and the East	220	(2)
The Pacific	222	(2)
Sense and Sensibility	224	(13)
The British Enlightenment	224	(3)
Science and Medicine	227	(3)
Good Works	230	(3)
Humanity and Nature	233	(4)
PART V: ECONOMIC EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION, 1750--1815	237	(40)
Industrializing England	239	(38)
Historiography	239	(2)
Feeding the People	241	(3)
Infrastructure: Canals and Turnpikes	244	(2)
Power	246	(2)
Industry and Invention	248	(3)
Trade	251	(4)
Banking and Finance	255	(2)
Law, Policy, and the State	257	(3)
Organization of Work and Workers	260	(3)
Labour and Capital	263	(4)
Standards of Living	267	(3)
Regional and National Dimensions	270	(3)
Revolution or Evolution?	273	(4)
PART VI: REFORM, REVOLUTION, REACTION, 1789--1815	277	(42)
Radicals, Reformers and the French Revolution, 1789--1793	279	(13)
Radical and Reformist Traditions	279	(3)
`Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive'	282	(2)
Burke and Paine	284	(2)
Jacobins and Loyalists	286	(6)
The Last French Wars, 1793--1815	292	(16)
Mobilization and Repression	292	(2)
Dearth and Famine, Discontent and Mutiny	294	(3)
Ireland: Rebellion and Union	297	(2)
A Peace to be Glad of	299	(2)
Worldwide War	301	(3)
Victory and Misery	304	(4)
Retrospect and Conclusion	308	(11)
Change and Continuity, 1660--1815	308	(5)
The Peculiarities of the English	313	(6)
APPENDICES	319	(4)
I. Monarchs and First Ministers, 1660--1815	319	(2)
II. Main British Colonies and Overseas Possessions, 1660--1815	321	(2)
Chronology	323	(7)
Further Reading	330	(15)
Index	345