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By what channels did the French Enlightenment reach the eighteenth-century Irish reader, and what impact did it have? What were the images of Ireland current in the France of the philosophers like Voltaire? These are the questions which a team of scholars attempt to answer in this volume.

This book analyses British official reactions to the apparent decline of France, politically, socially and economically, in the three years before the outbreak of war in Europe. The book is based on public and private archival sources and on the memoirs and biographies of leading British figures and describes the British Government's efforts to cope with the desperate strategic situation created by its own military weakness and the malaise of the Third Republic, its own potential great power ally in a war with the Axis powers.

This book is the first on the creation, development and influence of popular politics, specifically the role of Political Unions, on the Great Reform Act of 1832. Political Unions and the force of public opinion played a vital role in seeing the Reform Bill through Parliament and setting England on the path of peaceful, legislative reform. Their emphasis on representing the'industrious'classes linked the Unions to the emerging debates - political and socio-economic - in later Victorian Britain and the evolution of British participatory democracy.

The amount collected in taxation, the items which have been taxed, and the classes of people on whom the tax burden has fallen, have all changed greatly in the period from the Restoration to the present. This book considers how and why these changes took place, and some of the consequences which have flowed from them.

The German attack on merchant shipping in the Second World War, known as the Battle of the Atlantic, was countered partly by code-breaking intelligence known as Ultra. The dramatic revelation of this factor in the middle 1970s resulted in many works giving this as the most important cause of Allied success.

The first critical analysis of the Titanic as modern myth, this book focuses on the second of the two Titanics. The first was the physical Titanic, the rusting remains of which can still be found twelve thousand feet below the north Atlantic. The second is the mythical Titanic which emerged just as its tangible predecessor slipped from view on 15 April 1912. It is the second of the two Titanics which remains the more interesting and which continues to carry cultural resonances today. The Myth of the Titanic begins with the launching of the'unsinkable ship'and ends with the outbreak of the'war to end all wars'. It provides an insight into the particular culture of late-Edwardian Britain and beyond this draws far greater conclusions about the complex relationship between myth, history, popular culture and society as a whole.

Orwell's Politics is a study of the development of George Orwell's political ideas and beliefs from his time as a policeman in Burma through to the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four. It places Orwell's thinking in historical context, examining his response to mass unemployment in 1930s Britain, to revolution in Spain, to the impact of the Second World War and its aftermath. Orwell remained both an anti-Stalinist and a socialist up until his death.

This book explores the causes and nature of the industrial revolution through a comparative study of the main wool textile manufacturing regions of England. Addressing many of the current debates in economic history and eighteenth-century studies through a detailed, archivally-based analysis, it examines how the interplay between merchants, markets and producers shaped the pace and character of economic growth during the eighteenth century, paying particular attention to the implications of rapid product innovation and the export trade.

This short biography aims to show, in non-technical language, how one major scientist lived and worked. It marks the bicentenary of Faraday's birth.

The third volume of this history of independent television in Britain focuses on the central issues facing the Authority and companies during twelve and a half eventful years between the beginning of a new contract period in July 1968 and the announcement of the successful applicants for new contracts in December 1980. For ITV these were years of recession and inflation, of expansion and prosperity - above all, of enquiry and uncertainty.

A compendium of information on all the main events, individuals, political groupings and issues of the 20th century. It provides a guide to current thinking on important historical topics and personalities within the period, and offers a guide to further reading.

Many events of the divided society from Elizabeth I to Charles I were taken as an unmistakable sign that the world was entering its last days. This text shows how pervasive was this pessimistic mood and how powerfully it affected English writing from Shakespeare to Milton.

This collection examines the complex struggle for supremacy conducted between the United States and Britain in the decade following World War I. The aim is to throw light on a crucial period in the history of British and American foreign policy and on 20th-century international affairs.

This comprehensive study is the first scholarly account explaining how the British and Indian armies adapted to the peculiar demands of fighting an irregular tribal opponent in the mountainous no-man's-land between India and Afghanistan. It does so by discussing how a tactical doctrine of frontier fighting was developed and'passed on'to succeeding generations of soldiers. As this book conclusively demonstrates this form of colonial warfare always exerted a powerful influence on the organisation, equipment, training and ethos of the Army in India.

On December 14, 1945, the House of Commons voted 314 to 50 to ratify the Agreements negotiated at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, nearly a year and a half earlier. Lord Keynes had returned from Washington to defend the Fund and the Bank, of which he and Harry White were the principal authors, as well as to justify an American loan to Britain - following President Harry S. Truman's abrupt postwar decision to terminate all land-lease assistance to its wartime allies, an event which induced the Conservative MP Robert Boothby, to declare:'This is our economic Munich'. Today, fifty years later, virtually all the governments of the world have become members, and the capital subscriptions have increased many fold. But questions have arisen. Perhaps the Fund and the Bank should be merged. Some argue that fifty years are enough, at least for the Bank. Others believe that, while expansion should continue, the emphasis should be redirected toward the alleviation of poverty in Africa and southern Asia. This is an account of the historic events of the interwar years and after. It is also a story about the liberal philosophies of the political economists, primarily British and American, who produced two of the great international institutions of our time.

After thirty years of broadcasting in Britain under a public monopoly, the Television Act of 1954 introduced a controversial new force called Independent Television (ITV) which was a plural structure combining private enterprise and public control. Its income came from advertising. This volume, the first of three recording the history of Independent Television, describes the campaign to end the BBC's monopoly in television and tells of the vicissitudes of the early years of ITV, how it survived to become an accepted part of the fabric of British life. The book draws on much previously unpublished information to reveal the inside story of the problems which were encountered and the people principally involved in them. It tells how ITV's programmes captured a major share of the television audience and also how its rapid growth and the way the network was conducted led to a divergence from some of the ideals of its founding fathers. Whilst enjoying great popularity with the audience in general, ITV encountered criticism among people concerned about both'excessive'profits and the social impact of the medium. The book sets the record straight on a number of questions on which judgements have been based more often on legend than on fact. The story ends on the eve of the Pilkington Report of 1962, which was to advocate'organic change'in the whole system of Independent Television. The second volume will contain a detailed review of this report, describe the passage of the second Television Act of 1963 and go on to tell what happened to ITV after the arrival of Lord Hill of Luton, the former radio doctor and Postmaster-General, as Chairman of the ITA in the summer of 1963.

Examining the complex issues of the Great Rebellion of the seventeenth century, this title offers a fresh distillation of important scholarship on the Civil War and its aftermath.

'...in this clear and informed history of the 1974-79 government, Holmes shows how Labour's aspirations constantly encountered the practical limits of economic management.'Times Higher Education Supplement'...lucid and well-documented account.'British Book News'...Dr Holmes is perceptive and fair in his assessment of the leading personalities.'Samuel Brittan, Financial Times.

Towards the end of the 1830s, large numbers of British working men and women rallied round the People's Charter in order to improve their living conditions through universal suffrage. Women's wide-ranging support of Chartism encompassed everything from extensive lecturing tours to domestic servicing of politically active menfolk. In this first full-length study of women's involvement in Chartism, the author demonstrates that, in their struggle, which lasted for more than a decade, Chartist men and women enforced in their own ranks standards of respectable man- and womanhood that were to shape working-class gender relations well into this century.

This book looks at neo-classicism as a context for understanding early-modern English historical writing, and traces the implications of neo-classical history for English political culture at large. By paying close attention to historical genres and audiences, it reassesses both the famous and lesser-known historians of this era, dramatizing them as engaged in a struggle to preserve ancient models of historical composition in the face of a rapidly modernizing society characterized by party politics, print, Christianity, and antiquarian erudition.

This book examines the role of Chamberlain and the National Government in responding to the strategic problems created by the emergence of a two-front danger from Germany and Japan. It focuses on the first defence requirements enquiry of 1933-4, when rearmament foundations were laid and foreign policy redefined. It explores the inter-relationship between the different departments of state, and between individuals, in the formulation of policy at a time of crisis, and sheds light on the debate about appeasement.

The Irish Famine of 1845-49 was a major modern catastrophe. The return of the potato blight in 1846 triggered a huge exodus of destitute Irish seeking refuge in British towns and 1847 witnessed an unprecedented inflow of Irish refugees into Britain. This book examines the scale of that refugee immigration, the conditions under which the refugees were carried to Britain, the relief operations mounted, the horrors of the typhus epidemic in Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, South Wales and the North-East, and the financial cost to the British ratepayers.

The following study is primarily concerned with the unifying and destructive forces that affected the Anglo-American relationship between 1938 and 1944, as those involved searched for a strategic solution to the war in Europe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill's methods of leadership are compared and their personal relationship investigated. Anglo-American tensions are disclosed and assessed with regard to clandestine warfare, special operations and rearming the French and operation ANVIL, the invasion of southern France, is examined for its role in the Anglo-American strategic conflict.

In this book historian R.J.Q. Adams examines the policy of appeasement as practiced by British Governments in the inter-war years - a programme widely praised in its day and frequently condemned as wrong-headed and even wicked ever since. In this thoroughly accessible work, he reveals the motivations and goals of the men who practiced appeasement as well as of those who opposed it, and makes clear the road to Munich - and to war.

A wide-ranging and authoritative study of British foreign policy in the critical years after the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Policy towards Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East, United States and Far East is examined alongside such themes as the role of Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Cabinet in policy formulation. The evolution and execution of policy is set alongside the limitations imposed on British statesmen by the dominions, armed forces, economic weakness and domestic politics.

In the author's opinion, commercial relations between China and Britain in the 1950s determined subsequent economic relations between the countries more than is commonly recognized. This book examines how trade was effected by the revolution and the crises surrounding the Korean war.

The first comprehensive scholarly study of the British Army's campaign against the Jewish insurgency in postwar Palestine, this book shows how outdated doctrine, traditional resistance to change, and postwar turbulence hampered the army's efforts to modify its counter-insurgency tactics. It also shows why the security forces failed to develop intelligence sufficient to defeat the insurgents.

An examination of the controversies and disputes produced between Britain and the United States by their joint involvement in the Mediterranean theatre during the Second World War. Analysis of the evolution of Allied strategy toward the Mediterranean is put alongside a consideration of the conduct of military campaigns and the command structures that accompanied them. The political tensions permeating Anglo-American relations, and the important role played here by Harold Macmillan, are also discussed to provide a full picture of the problems faced by the alliance.

This book examines the theory and practice of the English monarchical succession from the end of Elizabeth's reign to the accession of George I. Tracing the transition from an uncertain rule to a crown in the disposal of parliament, Nenner focuses on the major routes to the throne over the long seventeenth century: hereditary right, conquest, and election. It is a study of the competing principles of parliamentary sovereignty and fundamental law, and the ways in which tension between dynastic expectations and national needs were addressed and resolved.

Communist China's integration into world diplomatic and trading systems in the 1950s was troublesome: relations with British governments and British business interests were no exception. The book examines the origins of `Two Chinas', the impact of the Korean War and focuses above all on British government policy towards China. It argues that the most significant influence on government policy was the relationship between the state and business elites; a symbiotic relationship that coalesced around an imperial concern: Hong Kong.

A study of the connections between Britain's foreign, financial and military policies during the 1920s, calling for a radical reassessment of the perceptions of this critical period. The author argues that Britain did not follow a single strategic policy, but many different ones.

The aim of this book is to set the 1957 Windscale accident in its historical context in the immediate post-war period and the early days of the Cold War, to describe the event and its consequences and to evaluate it from the vantage point of 1990.

A lively study of the function of theatre entertainment in the First World War, 1914-18. The theatre's role as unofficial government aide in the form of recruiter, propagandist and fund raiser is examined; so too its use as morale booster and provider of a war-related role for the aristocracy, female and military over-aged male artists. The organization of theatre for and by the military and civilian concert parties for troops in training and at the Front is analysed.

'Olav Thulesius sets out to resurrect the sullied reputation of one of the most prolific writers of medical works during the Interregnum. - Thulesius has given us a welcome beginning of a study of a fascinating and neglected figure who made serious contributions to mid-seventeenth-century medicine while always living on the fringes of the established and licensed medical community.'- Martha Baldwin, Journal of the History or Medicine Was Nicholas Culpeper (1616-54) the father of English herbal medicine or a quacksalver and charlatan astrologer? This first modern biography shows a more complex picture. For example during the Civil War the Puritan Culpeper was wounded while fighting on the Parliamentarian side, as a physician of the poor, he had a burning desire to explain the secrets of medicine to ordinary people, He was not only the author of the famous herbal The English Physician but he also wrote the first book on midwifery and childcare and translated The London Pharmacopoeia.

The Protectorate's foreign relations are among the most misunderstood aspects of a little-known period of British history, usually seen as an interlude between regicide and Restoration. Yet Cromwell's unique political and military position and current European conflicts enabled him to play a crucial role in international affairs, playing off France against Spain and arousing Catholic fears. Financial and security problems determined the nature of Cromwell's policies, but he achieved great influence among his neighbours in five turbulent years Until recent studies the Protectorate has been regarded as a political cul-de-sac lying uncomfortably between regicide and Restoration. Its foreign relations presented outdated'Elizabethan'hatred of declining Spain, neglect of rising French and Dutch power, and excessive admiration of Protestant Sweden. A close study of Cromwell's domestic and international position in 1653 casts new light on his problems and successes, restoring pragmatism above religious idealism as the determining factor despite Cromwell's undoubted miscalculations. It is to his credit that England's international prestige stood at its highest during the century in 1658, helped by his unprecedently powerful (though expensive) armed forces. Despite unpopularity and subversion at home, and a narrow base of support, Cromwell utilised the Franco-Spanish war to auction his services between them, obtained England's only Continental foothold after 1558, and pressed his claim as leader of European Protestantism at a time of renewed religious tension.

After 1945, Britain maintained a great chain of overseas military outposts stretching from the Suez Canal to Singapore. Commonly termed the `east of Suez'role, this chain had long been thought to be crucial for the country's security and its vitality. Nonetheless, British leaders eventually decided to abandon this network of bases. This study provides the most comprehensive explanation of this pivotal decision to date, while also offering insight into the processes of foreign policy change and the decline of great powers.

'Social Shakespeare is a thoughtful and frequently incisive book wabout an important and complex topic.'- Terence Hawkes, Cahiers Elisabethains Shakespeare studies have become increasingly politicised and clashes of opinion amongst scholars are not uncommon. Social Shakespeare, in its enthusiasm for the plays themselves, attempts to bridge the gap between rival approaches, aiming as a distinct refocusing of political criticism upon the Shakespearean text as realised in performance. Modern Shakespeare productions have the potential to make far more political impact than academic studies and yet, until now, critics have been reluctant to recognise this potential. With reference to particular productions, backed up by illustrations, Peter J. Smith integrates critical understanding of the plays with evidence of their political impact on stage.