Books in the British History in Perspective series

Was there really a crisis in England between 1545 and 1565, or is this just a way of describing a period in history when a lot of interesting things where happening?In reality the twenty years from 1545 to 1565 contained no more elements of crisis than other comparable periods.

A critical introduction to the mass political movements that came of age in urban England between the Great Reform Act of 1832 and the start of World War One. Roberts provides a guide to the new approaches to topics such as Chartism, parliamentary reform, Gladstonian Liberalism, popular Conservatism and the independent Labour movement.

Gregory Claeys explores the reception of the French Revolution in Britain through the medium of its leading interpreters. Claeys argues that the major figures - Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin and John Thelwall - collectively laid the foundations for political debate for the following century, and longer.

This updated edition of an influential interpretation of Henry VIII's Reformation retains the analytical edge and lucidity of the original work. Richard Rex emphasizes the personal role of Henry VIII in driving the Reformation process, as well as the considerable reinforcement of Henry's power rendered by that process.

This book explores the influence of late seventeenth-century Christianity in Locke's philosophical, political, and educational thought. This book incorporates the latest scholarship and reassesses the nature of Locke's most important writings in the light of his strong commitment to traditional Christian notions of morality and human purpose.

'...Undergraduate and sixth-form students will undoubtedly benefit from his lucid and critical commentary.' Martin Pugh, History.

Ronald Hutton's book provides a concise synthesis of recent research into this area - now brought up-to-date to include the research of the 1990s. He also looks at the increasingly studied figure of Cromwell, and how recent research has brought both the man and his government to life.

Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) is always remembered for three things: his creation of the Metropolitan Police, his principal role in the repeal of the Corn Laws and his status as founder of the modern Conservative Party.

This volume examines the main controversies of the Edwardian period in an attempt to assess the nature and seriousness of the Edwardian crisis, relating the discussion to current historiographical debates on topics such as the vitality of Edwardian liberalism and the importance of feminism.

This book surveys Irish history in the first half of this millennium, written in a style which will make it accessible to those new to the subject, incorporating the findings of recent research, and offering a reinterpretation of the evidence.

Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures in British political history. An assessment is offered of Disraeli's contribution to the late-Victorian Conservative party's political ascendancy, and in particular to its image as the 'national' party.

Why, despite the unifying pressures of social and economic change within Britain, did Scotland remain a distinctive society in the nineteenth century? Themes include the distinctiveness of that society's artisans, merchants, lairds, professional classes and new migrants in producing a distinctive national political tradition.

In this thought-provoking book, Professor Harkness charts the record of antagonistic aspirations that have divided Irish Nationalists from Irish Unionists (the latter, since 1920, being concentrated in the six Counties of Northern Ireland).

In the eleventh century there was no such identity as Scotland. The Scots were one of several peoples in the Kingdom of the King of Scots: the Picts may have faded away, but English, British, Galwegians were still distinct and Anglo-Normans were soon to be added.

The Great Irish Famine of 1845-51 was both one of the most lethal famines in modern history and a watershed in the development of modern Ireland. This book - based on a wide range of little-used sources - demonstrates how the Famine profoundly affected many aspects of Irish life: the relationship between the churches;

The civil wars of the second half of the fifteenth century still stir the popular imagination and provoke much controversy and debate. The third edition of this classic introductory text has been revised and updated throughout in the light of recent research, and now features a separate new chapter on the character of the wars.

This volume examines the main themes in Welsh history from the coming of the Normans in the eleventh century and their impact on Welsh society and politics to the fall of the Duke of Buckingham, the last great marcher magnate, in 1521.

Fully revised and updated, this second edition of the standard textbook on the causes of the English Civil War provides a comprehensive guide to the historiographical debates surrounding this crucial period of English history.

In its many and varied forms, the Radical Right has been a hyper-nationalist thorn in the side of Britain's liberal political system for over 100 years.

A thematic survey of the impact of crusading on Britain and Ireland, from the First Crusade to the end of the thirteenth century. Hurlock examines the relationship between high medieval British society and crusading, exploring key areas such as the political use of crusades, the papacy's choice of crusaders, and the role of the military orders.

The English Civil Wars and Revolution remain controversial. Taking into account the radical exigencies and expectations of war and peace-making, the discordant testimonies from battlefield and bargaining table, Parliament, press and pulpit, Dr Kennedy provides a full analysis of the English experience of revolution.

What caused the 'strange death of Labour Britain'? By drawing together these themes, Dr Jeffreys provides a wide-ranging introductory study: the first historical overview of the Labour party to cover the whole period between the eras of Clement Attlee and John Smith.

Students of early Stuart politics face a bewildering array of books and articles published in recent years. While this book is distinguished by its frank discussion of current scholarship, it is organised around a dramatic narrative of events intended to hold the interest of students and acquaint them with the basic events of Charles's reign.

This book explores the dimensions of political society and the major preoccupations of English politics between the later years of Edward I's reign and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses.

Six centuries separate the 'adventus Saxonum' from the battle of Hastings: during those long years, the English kings changed from warlords, who exacted submission by force, into law-givers to whom obedience was a moral duty. They also created England: the united kingdom of the English people.

This new book looks at British Politics in the 1760's and 1770's during the American Revolution. He also surveys the development of radicalism in Britain subsequent to the war and looks at constitutional developments during this period in Britain and America.

It provides not only a history of the Jacobite cause and the Risings but also studies of Jacobite culture, the financing of Jacobitism, the Jacobite diaspora and Jacobitism and nationalism, as well as a critical review of the major changes in Jacobite scholarship this century.

This study looks afresh at the assumption that those in the Scottish parliament who voted for the union of 1707 sold their country. The world of Scottish politics after the union is then explored from the perspective of the people at the top of the ruling elite.

The influence and reputation of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the greatest English political theorist and one of the greatest of all intellectuals, has never been higher than it is now.