The History of England from the Accession of James II (Vol. 1-5)

The History of England from the Accession of James II (Vol. 1-5) PDF

Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2023-11-14

Total Pages: 2264

ISBN-13:

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The History of England from the Accession of James II is the five-volume work by Lord Macaulay. It covers the 17-year period from 1685 to 1702, encompassing the reign of James II, the Glorious Revolution, the coregency of William III and Mary II, and up to William III's death. Macaulay's approach to writing the History was innovative for his period. He consciously fused the picturesque, dramatic style of classical historians such as Thucydides and Tacitus with the learned and factual approach of his 18th-century precursors such as Hume, following the plan laid out in his own 1828 "Essay on History".The History is famous for its brilliant ringing prose and for its confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on a progressive model of British history. According to this view, England threw off superstition, autocracy and confusion to create a balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with freedom of belief and expression.

The History of England from the Accession of James II

The History of England from the Accession of James II PDF

Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2013-01-01

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 1605209635

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Perhaps the most famous example of the "Whig interpretation of history"-the idea that the human story has been inevitably destined for enlightenment, progress, and scientific truth-this five-volume work instantly revolutionized the British understanding of history when its first volume was published in 1848. Though not without its detractors-Karl Marx called author BARON THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY (1800-1859), an English politician and historian, "a systematic falsifier of history"-it nevertheless became a standard text, and one that is today required reading for anyone who wishes to explore changing values and ideals in historical scholarship. Volume I introduces the reader to Britain before James II, from life under the Romans and Saxons and the conversion to Christianity to the Monmouth Rebellion of Scotland in 1685 and James II's taking of the throne.