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THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND

Seventy-five years have passed since Lingard completed his History ofEngland, which ends with the Revolution of 1688. During that periodhistorical study has made a great advance. Year after year the mass ofmaterials for a new History of England has increased; new lights have beenthrown on events and characters, and old errors have been corrected. Manynotable works have been written on various periods of our history; some ofthem at such length as to appeal almost exclusively to professedhistorical students. It is believed that the time has come when theadvance which has been made in the knowledge of English history as a wholeshould be laid before the public in a single work of fairly adequate size.Such a book should be founded on independent thought and research, butshould at the same time be written with a full knowledge of the works ofthe best modern historians and with a desire to take advantage of theirteaching wherever it appears sound.

The vast number of authorities, printed and in manuscript, on which aHistory of England should be based, if it is to represent the existingstate of knowledge, renders co-operation almost necessary and certainlyadvisable. The History, of which this volume is an instalment, is anattempt to set forth in a readable form the results at present attained byresearch. It will consist of twelve volumes by twelve different writers,[Pg ii]each of them chosen as being specially capable of dealing with the periodwhich he undertakes, and the editors, while leaving to each author as freea hand as possible, hope to insure a general similarity in method oftreatment, so that the twelve volumes may in their contents, as well as intheir outward appearance, form one History.

As its title imports, this History will primarily deal with politics,with the History of England and, after the date of the union withScotland, Great Britain, as a state or body politic; but as the life of anation is complex, and its condition at any given time cannot beunderstood without taking into account the various forces acting upon it,notices of religious matters and of intellectual, social, and economicprogress will also find place in these volumes. The footnotes will, so faras is possible, be confined to references to authorities, and referenceswill not be appended to statements which appear to be matters of commonknowledge and do not call for support. Each volume will have an Appendixgiving some account of the chief authorities, original and secondary,which the author has used. This account will be compiled with a view ofhelping students rather than of making long lists of books without anynotes as to their contents or value. That the History will have faultsboth of its own and such as will always in some measure attendco-operative work, must be expected, but no pains have been spared to makeit, so far as may be, not wholly unworthy of the greatness of itssubject.

Each volume, while forming part of a complete History, will also initself be a separate and complete book, will be sold separately, and will[Pg iii]have its own index, and two or more maps.

The History is divided as follows:—