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Commons

1754-1790


Editor:

Published

1964 by Boydell and Brewer

Price:

£ 45.00

Reviews:

“The three volumes which form the first instalment of ‘The History of Parliament’ constitute one of the most magnificent works of reference ever provided for the student of history. They are remarkable not only as a compendium which codifies the existing state of scholarship but also for the way in which they have traversed and charted territory that had hitherto been dark. … If this work is not, indeed, the end of all history, it is likely sooner or later to stand as a possible fountain of new developments, the starting-point for further analyses and deductions.”
Sir Herbert Butterfield, in The Listener



About:

This was the first set of volumes of the History of Parliament to appear. Sir Lewis Namier died in 1960, before they were completed, and the work was seen through the press by John Brooke. It covers the period from the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War to the French Revolution, and includes the accession of a new and young King, George III, the loss of the American colonies, and the enormous political difficulties of dealing with India.  They deal with the early years of the pro-parliamentary reform movement, and growing urban radicalism.

The volumes contain 1,966 biographical articles and 314 constituency articles, and an introductory survey, largely written by John Brooke, although it draws heavily on Namier’s views on mid to late eighteenth century politics in The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III and England in the Age of the American Revolution.