Title: Aspects of British Political History 1815-1914
Genre: Political History
Year: 1994
Pages: 340
Origin: Library book
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5
Stephen J. Lee’s Aspects of British Political History is a guide to the various differences and pitfalls of the nineteenth century political scene. It is a “nuts & bolts” approach that attempts to select the key areas and people of ninety-nine years of history, in an attempt to understand their actions and the histography that has since surrounded the effects of their decisions. In the first paragraph of the introduction, Lee sets out his stall in his hope to ‘capture the imagination of the general reader who likes to go beyond narrative into the realm of debate’.
Published in the dearth of the Tory political landscape of the early 1990s, the book certainly adds plenty of debate. Lee is keen to always bring in the historical interpretations of ‘Whig’, ‘Tory’ and ‘Marxist’ history. Such approaches have appeared to have lost favour in academic and the book market in recent years; with us contemporaries gloating in the short-sighted belief that we are perhaps at the end of history (fall of Communism, triumph of Capitalism, seeming victory of TV reality shows).
Major themes include the years of Tory rule (1812-1830), the reforms of the Whigs in the 1830s, the fall of Peel and the Corn Laws in the 1846, the golden years of Palmerstone, the changing fortunes of Gladstone and Disraeli, British imperialism and years of “splendid isolation”, the great reforms of the New Liberals, and the rise of Labour. Furthermore, Lee concludes the book with chapters based on a long view of the ninety nine years (including British foreign policy, the economy, and policy towards social problems), as well as a short chapter on valuable primary sources available for the student and keen lay reader.
Despite being published relatively recently (1994), the final finish of the book shows shoddy tables and graphs of a pre-digital era (though, in truth, the lack of 3-D pie-charts has only served to have endeared the Worm to the book). Yes, there are more beautiful books, and many more that concentrate on nineteenth century politics that carry a stronger, more distinctive narrative. But this was never Lee’s intention, as he clearly states in the introduction. This is a book for readers who wish to swim deeper in debate, to go beyond mere name recall and recognition of key events, to gain an understanding to the all important why these events happened. It is the Worm’s hope that this book will heighten the analytical senses of students for many years yet to come.
Buy it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aspects-British-Political-History-1815-1914/dp/0415090075/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1356802834&sr=8-3
