United Kingdom Books

I made the mistake of beginning this book after 9:00 P.M. I was still reading tenaciously when dawn broke, and I reluctantly had to put it down from sheer exhaustion.

Faster paced than any novel, this gripping story, ripped from the headlines of the 1960s, tells how an affable, gregarious, handsome, and unconventional man, who was both a gifted osteopath and a talented artist, and who had many friends in London society (and one in the Soviet Embassy), became swept up in the tumultuous events of history only to be sucked down into the vortiginous sinkhole of politics.

Knightley and Kennedy not only narrate the tragic life and death of Stephen Ward, but they also relate the history of the rise of tabloid journalism, which--with tales of women wielding whips, naked masked men waiting tables, orgies in Stately Homes and other titillating tidbits of gossip--is ever ready to sustain the public's prurient and seemingly insatiable appetites for such trash. (The combination of sex and politics in this book makes one wonder whether that marvelously wicked British DVD "House of Cards" might not be a forerunner to reality TV!)

"An Affair of State" is also the heartbreaking story of a rather naive man who put his faith in his friends, in his country, and in the British system of jurisprudence. In the end, he was abandoned by all but a few of his friends and betrayed by both country and British justice. In other words, he was made a scapegoat, according to Knightley and Kennedy, to the interests of the Conservative party and the hypocrisy of the establishment after the resignation in disgrace of John Profumo, Britain's dapper and dandy Minister of War.

As one who read those headines and stories avidly in 1963, and could not wait for the next sensational revelation of Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies, I am sufficiently chastened to discover that Stephen Ward's conviction was based upon what proved to be perjured evidence and an outrageous frameup that led to his suicide. Perhaps, at the time, as far as the public was concerned, the scandal represented an antidote to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 (one of the most frightening times through which I have ever lived, wondering whether there would be a tomorrow), but while the attention of the world was being diverted by the sexual antics of the rich and powerful (the salacious details of which were meticulously reported in a U.K. government report), other more sinister events were unfolding, which came to their climax on November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was assassinated.

One might draw a parallel with a similar obsession with sex and politics, fueled by the media, that not only produced another lengthy official x-rated report but also occupied the public and diverted the attention of Congress in the months preceding 9/11. Is there, perhaps, a lesson to be learned here?

This book provides details on what followed the Parliamentary Act on Abolition of the Slave Trade signed by the King of England on 25 March 1807. It is good summary of events with good background material.

After Empire is a revealing window into identity and displaced cultures. The novelists featured are themselves unique writers and have interesting personal journies that are reflected in the book. While at first reading the book may appear academic in approach, it is certainly not an intimidating read for those with an interest in literature and the way in which race, ethnicity and culture form individual and national identity. An intellectually challenging and fascinating exploration of the perspectives of the colonisers and the colonised .

1931: Wall Street collapsed 2 years ago and the World is experiencing the Great Depression. United States, World's largest economy is in limbo. Italy is fascist since the 20s. France, soon to experience serious social instability, remains suspicious about Germany. Most Eastern European countries born in the aftermath of Versailles to contain Germany have become or are becoming dictatorships, except Czechoslovakia. In an attempt to secure Empire's loyalty and preserve British trade, the Ottawa Imperial conference transforms the British Empire into a Commonwealth of Nations and abandons the century old policy of free-trade to replace it by Imperial Tariffs preference. India, the backbone of the Empire is agitated by Hindu and Muslim protest. In the Middle East, Jewish terrorists destabilise British mandate on Palestine. Muslims in Iraq and Egypt would like to end British presence in the region. Komintern, the Communist International, for which the Great Depression is the confirmation that a capitalist economy cannot work, exploits Western weaknesses to promote a global proletarian revolution. Against all rules approved in 1919, Japan invades Manchuria, a wealthy Chinese province. British Treasury is still affected by WW I staggering costs and British Navy cannot afford to wage war nor allow Japan to take advantage in China. British-Chinese trade is vital and Shanghai alone is the single largest piece of foreign investment in the World.

In this context described by authors like Paul Kennedy, reading The Age of Appeasement is simply fascinating. British foreign policies of the 1930s unfolds through the messages, opinions and decisions of the British lawmakers, their relations with the Foreign Office officials and their non-British counterparts. The author masterfully brushes the qualities, ignorance, weakness and prejudice showing how it affected the outcome of each decision during the crisis in the Far East, Eastern Africa and Europe and how this all lead to WW II. A book especially relevant for Americans who experience the same kind of global situation today.

In an age of evocative names like Eric Bloodaxe and Egil Skallagrimson, one name has been lost in the mists of time: that of Athelstan, ruler of all Britian. From the first raids of the Vikings on the shores of Britian and Ireland, the book traces the response to the threat across the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic worlds. The rise of the kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, and later of the English, built from the debris of Viking destruction, is analysed in detail and compared to the struggle for independence in Northumbria.
Athelstan's achievement in establishing an empire for which he became famous is a key focus of the tale, along with the extradornary history of the hunt for the lost battle of Brunanburh (AD 937), a clash which defined a people. For hundreds of years, no king would rule as much of Britian as Athelstan. His reputation survived the medieval period in the form of histories, songs and poems only to be lost at a later date, and yet its essence can still be found today all over the country.
Paul Hill was formerly curator at Kingston Museum where Athelstan was crowned. He has appeared on Britian's Channel 5's Battlefield Detectives series in 'Bloodbath at Hastings" as an Anglo-Saxon military specalist.

Recommended!

First published in 1959 this remains an indispensible text to anyone with an interest in understanding the dynamic of one of the most misunderstood periods in English History. Most people think of prim moralists when they think of "Victorians" but after reading Asa Briggs 500 page sociological, economic, political and cultural survey the reader will be left with a far more complex and far richer impression of the Victorians and the complex issues that obsessed and defined them.

This book is primarily a socio-political history and in England power has traditionally rested in the hands of the landowners. At the time of the French Revolution very few members of Parliament believed in democracy. To both the conservative(Tory) and liberal(Whig) elements in the English Parliament the English Constitution was thought to be the best because it was government run not by the people but government run by those most qualified to run government . As the nineteenth-century progressed, however, it became impossible to deny a growing and increasingly wealthy middle class its say on election day. Change did happen but it happened very differently in England than in continental Europe. In a time when other European nations were experiencing violent revolutions England remained relatively stable and Briggs attributes this relative calm to a consistently strong English economy --for a time the worlds strongest. Many found the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 (which opened the way for free trade) to be the most significant legislature of the century. Reformist leaders and movements became popular during times of recession and the 19th century saw reforms in every area of life but reform in England was always a slow and deliberate process and reformist movements faded from the national consciousness during times of recovery. The 1830's saw the deepest recessions so it is not surprising that it was in that decade that the first major constitutional reform was passed extending the right to vote to the middle class. Many conservatives feared the move toward democracy would mean the end of England but in 1867 a second major consitutional reform extended the right to vote to the working classes. Political leaders were more often than not moderates whose main task was to maintain a balance between the various elements of Parliament which included Tories, Whigs, and Radicals. Throughout the period government like everything else was undergoing vast changes. Democracy presented a challenge to English political tradition and Darwin presented a challenge to English belief systems but the triumph of the age was perhaps its allegiance to balance and moderation in all things which was in part due to the Evangelical spirit of the time and in part due to the Utilitarian spirit popularized by legislative and law reformer Jeremy Bentham.

Briggs paints a portrait of an England that sees itself as the pinnacle of civilization. The age was defined differently by its optimists and its pessimists but Briggs sets down four main features that defined both the champions and the critics of the era: work, seriousness, respectabilty, self-help.

Briggs quotes extensively from the prominent men and women of the day(political and cultural figures) to give us an idea of how the Victorians viewed themselves and their era.

The Age of Improvement

Chapter 1 :Economy and Society in the 1780's
Chapter 2: Politics and Government on the Eve of the French Revolution
Chapter 3: The Impact of War
Chapter 4:The Politics of Transition
Chapter 5: Reform
Chapter 6: Social Cleavage
Chapter 7:Britain and the World Overseas
Chapter 8: The Balance of Interests
Chapter 9: Victorianism
Chapter 10: The Leap in the Dark

This is an inteligent, well written and extremely thought provoking book which takes a critical look at the current state of world free market capitalism. The main thrust of the books argument is that governments of the left have given up the fight in the reform of capitalism and in doing so have focussed their intervention onto the citizen, ie from market control to social control. I think this argument is very true looking at the policies of the British 'New Labour' government over the last 2 years. The book gives a very interesting cultural tour over the last 50 years which compliments the politcal sea changes over this period.

I found this book to be a marvelous presentation of the antecedents of the English Industrial Revolution. It is lucid, apolitical in language, deeply researched, and tightly organized. It draws material from important but uncommon sources, like eighteenth century industrial commentators before Adam Smith. Best of all, the deep texture of its tapestry of ideas was a pleasure to receive into one's own mind.

This was a great book with absolutly gorgeous pictures. I love Victorian paintings and the symbolism that they put in the paintings during that time period.I now collect anything I can find about that painting period. I definatly would reccommend this to anyone who loves this time period in art.

This is the second volume of Cambridge University Press's multi-volume "The Agrarian History of England and Wales" (general editor Joan Thirsk),which traces the history of agrarian/rural economics in England and Wales from prehistory to the present. This particular volume, edited by medieval historian H.E. Hallam, is devoted to the period 1042 (just before the Norman Conquest) through 1348 (the year of the Black Death.

The 1200+ pages of this mammoth study are divided into 10 chapters, although most of these aredivided further into 'sub-chapters' and articles. The ten major chapters are: "England Before the Norman Conquest", "Domeday England", "New Settlements", "Farming Techniques", "Population Movements", "Social Structure", "Prices and Wages", "The Life of the People", "Rural Building in England and Wales", and an overall summary on "Rural England and Wales, 1042-1350". Many of the chapters and articles are written by Hallam himself, but others are written by other noted social and economic historians of medieval England: Sally Harvy, Cristopher Dyer, R. Ian Jack, Edward Miller, J.G. Hurst, David Farmer, L.A.S. Butler, etc. There is a select bibliography at the end, as well as two separate indexes (one for place names, the other for all other items). Dozens-- perhaps even hundreds-- of tables and charts are included, as are several illustrations.

In terms of the substance of the book-- well, it's clear that this is going to be *the* definitive and most comprehensive study of rural economic history in England and Wales in this period for a long, long time to come. However, its' comprehensiveness comes with a certain price (and I'm not just talking about the pricetag). This is an extremely detailed book filled with all sorts of statistics, observations, comparisons, and references to individual villages, practices, etc. At times, the reader can get lost in the specifics-- missing the forest for the trees (or perhaps I should say the wheat stalks for the fields?) That's not to say that general overviews aren't provided, mind you-- it's just that they are followed by so much specific detail that one can sometimes lose track of the big picture. Another trade-off is that, while there is a chapter discussing structures and relations, the work really focuses on economics, without delving deeply into the connections between economics and social life. I don't see either of these as being a *fault* of the book per se, but rather as an inevitable consequence of it treating agrarian economic life so comprehensively.

In truth, this probably isn't a book for the person who is casually interested in medieval history or rural life. The level of detail can be overwhelming at times, and the writing is not exactly what you would call "lively". This is really a work for the scholar-- or for the amateur who's *extremely* interested in the economic life of the the medieval countryside (and who has already read several shorter studies). But for someone who wants a thorough, scholarly, and comprehensive treatment of English/Welsh agrarian life from the Conquest through the Black Death, this book is an unparalleled resource.