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Category Archives: Books
Fragments from an Unexceptional Life
We all, in one way or another, live unexceptional lives. We are born, we go to school and increasingly university, we start work, enter relationships that may or may not lead to children who we watch grow into adults and, … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Autobiography, Second World War
From Peace to Victory: Amiens to Waterloo 1802-1815
The Peace of Amiens, negotiated by Hawkesbury (later Lord Liverpool) and Cornwallis and ratified by Parliament in May 1802, received a poor press from contemporaries and subsequently from historians. The surrender of Austria deprived Britain of any leverage in Europe … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics, Nineteenth century society
Tagged Napoleon, Peninsular War, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Welliton
Why did Britain not win the war with France 1793 and 1802?
The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 was initially welcomed by most politicians. The Whigs saw it as the dawn of liberty. For Pitt, the revolution would be a useful distraction for Britain’s major rival. Edmund Burke found in … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Egypt, French Wars, Napoleon, William Pitt
Ireland in the decade before Union
Ireland posed three problems in the period between the 1780s and the famines in the mid-1840s. First, there was the question of how Ireland should be governed. There was also the highly emotive question of the rights of the Catholic … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics
Tagged 1798 rebellion, Ireland, Union 1800, William Pitt
Why did Corn Law repeal lead to the end of Peel’s government?
Relations between Peel and his backbenchers were strained from the early days of his ministry. Peel was insensitive to their interests of many Conservative MPs and made little attempt to court backbench opinion. He took the loyalty of Conservatives in … Continue reading
Peel’s ministry 1841-45
Peel is credited with the Conservative victory in 1841: without his leadership, many contemporaries believed that the Tories could have been assigned to permanent opposition. Peel’s parliamentary performance during the 1830s was an important element in this revival. His grasp … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics, Sir Robert Peel
Tagged government 1841-46, Sir Robert Peel
Peel in the 1830s
Peel is generally recognised as the founder of modern Conservatism. He saw the need for the Tory party to adapt itself after its disastrous showing in the 1832 General Election when 175 Tory MPs were elected out of the 658 … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics, Sir Robert Peel
Tagged Sir Robert Peel, Tamworth Manifesto
Treating the disabled
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the policy of segregating severely disabled people into institutions slowly increased and was subsequently extended to other disadvantaged groups.[1] The term ‘institution’ can refer to a variety of social organisations but refers here to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Health and Housing, Nineteenth century society
How ‘liberal’ were the Tory governments of 1822-1830?
In the early 1820s, Liverpool made important changes in his Cabinet. Canning became Foreign Secretary after Castlereagh’s suicide and Peel replaced Sidmouth at the Home Office in 1822. Robinson took the place of Vansittart at the Exchequer and Huskisson became … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics
Tagged Catholic Emancipation, Lord iverpool, Sir Robert Peel, William Huskisson
How did Pitt face the French Revolution between 1789 and 1801?
In 1789, the fall of the Bastille[1] foreshadowed revolution in France. Reactions were mixed in Britain but many people were initially well disposed towards the revolution. Pitt saw political advantages for Britain because it weakened France’s colonial ambitions. Some thought … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics
Tagged Corresponding Societiues, Edmund Burke, French Revolution, repression, Thomas Paine, William Pit
Why did Pitt dominate politics between 1783 and 1793?
Pitt was a cautious reformer. In 1785, he unsuccessfully attempted to abolish thirty-six rotten boroughs and transfer their seats to London and the counties, failed to achieve economic union with Ireland and dropped the idea of economic union with America. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Nineteenth century politics
Tagged commerce, finance, trade, William Bligh
New review
Richard Brown, Famine, Fenians and Freedom, 1830-1882, Authoring History, second edition, 2017, £20.37, paperback, ISBN 978-1540352231; Richard Brown, Three Rebellions: Canada, South Wales and Australia, Authoring History, second edition, 2016, £19.72, paperback, ISBN 978-1539455707 The opportunity to revise and update … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Books, Canadian history, Chartism, Eureka Stockade 1854
Tagged Australia, Canada, Chartism, Eureka Stockade, rebellion
Famine, Fenians and Freedom, 1830-1882
First book for 2017 Famine, Fenians and Freedom, 1830-1882 is the second book in the Rebellion Quartet, a series looking at resistance and rebellion in the British Empire. It examines the Irish dimension in Britain’s Empire, evident in Three … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Charles Stewart Parnell, Daniel O'Connell, diaspora, Fenians, Ireland, Isaac Butt, Young Ireland
Three Rebellions…a second edition
There have been important change in the Rebellion Trilogy, a series of books that were written between 2004 and 2010 and published in 2010, 2011 and 2013. The series will become a Quartet with the addition of a fourth volume … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Books, Canadian history, Chartism, Nineteenth century society
Tagged Australia, Ballarat, Canada, gold, Newport, rebellions, South Wales, Victoria
Breaking the Habit: a review by John A. Hargreaves
Breaking the Habit: A Life of History, Richard Brown, Authoring History, 2016, 175 pp., £7.13, paper, ISBN 9781530295234 In this retrospective but far from introspective, autobiographical memoir Richard Brown muses ‘on the nature of History in an increasingly challenging environment’. … Continue reading
Posted in Autobiographical fragments, Books, What is History?
