An Imperial State at War: Britain From 1689-1815

by Stone,Lawrence; Stone,Lawrence

• ISBN13: 9780415061421
• ISBN10: 0415061423
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-12-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

John Brewer has tranformed the study of eighteenth century British history, and with his most recent book,The Sinews of Power,has challenged its most central concepts. Brewer puts forth a Britain forced to pay the costs of war in defense of a growing empire, with the power of the state increasing dramatically. As 'laissez faire' drops away, a stronger, more centralized and powerful Britian emerges. InAn Imperial State at War,edited by Lawrence Stone (himself a figure of controversy), the leading historians working on the eigteenth century put the Brewer thesis to the test. LikeThe Sinews of Poweritself, this is a major advance in the study of first period empire.

Author Biography

Lawrence Stone is Emeritus Professor of History at Princeton University.

Table of Contents

Notes on contributors
Introduction	p. 1
The Sinews of Power and European State-Building Theory	p. 33
The Eighteenth-Century British State: Contexts and issues	p. 52
Society and the Economy in the Eighteenth Century	p. 72
The Domestic Face of the Military-Fiscal State: Government and society in eighteenth-century Britain	p. 96
Empire of Virtue: The imperial project and Hanoverian culture c. 1720-1785	p. 128
The Reach of the State, the Appeal of the Nation: Mass arming and political culture in the Napoleonic Wars	p. 165
Maritime Strength and Atlantic Commerce: The uses of 'a grand marine empire'	p. 185
Union, State and Empire: The Britain of 1707 in its European setting	p. 224
The Provinces and the Empire: Scotland, the American colonies and the development of British provincial identity	p. 258
Irish Resistance to Empire? 1641, 1690 and 1798	p. 288
The British Military-Fiscal State and Indigenous Resistance: India 1750-1820	p. 322
Index	p. 355
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