H. T. Dickinson is Richard Lodge Professor of British History at Edinburgh University. He is a former President of the Historical Association and a former Vice President of the Royal Historical Society. He has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Richmond. His numerous books include British Radicalism and the French Revolution 1789–1815 (1985), Caricatures and the Constitution 1760–1832 (1986) and The Politics of the People in Eighteenth-Century Britain (1995). He was also editor of the journal History from 1993 to 2000.

"This superb work by leading historian of the period provides a series of introductions to the most important themes for study. The authors bring the most up to date scholarship to bear in their work. Readable, sensible, perceptive and intelligent. If there is one book to use for this century, this is it."Archives Book Reviews "The accounts are succinct, very up-to-date and based upon regional as well as national evidence." Northern History"If this volume is any indication, the series will be successful. Dickinson has collected an array of prominent historians to digest and briefly discuss the trends in their respective fields. This is a collection of essays that most students will find exceptionally useful, and most faculty members will appreciate: Highly recommended."Choice

• List of Maps xList of Contributors xiIntroduction xvMaps xixPart I Politics and the Constitution 11 The British Constitution 3H. T. Dickinson2 The British State 19Eckhart Hellmuth3 Finance and Taxation 30Patrick Karl O’Brien4 Local Government and Local Society 40David Eastwood5 Parliament, Parties and Elections (1688–1760) 55Brian Hill6 Parliament, Parties and Elections (1760–1815) 69Stephen M. Lee7 The Jacobite Movement 81Daniel Szechi8 Popular Politics and Radical Ideas 97H. T. Dickinson9 The Crisis of the French Revolution 112Emma Vincent MacleodPart II The Economy and Society 12510 Manufacturing and Commerce 127John Rule11 Agriculture and Rural Life 141Gordon Mingay12 The Landed Elite 158Richard G. Wilson13 The Middling Orders 172Nicholas Rogers14 The Labouring Poor 183John Rule15 Urban Life and Culture 196Peter Borsay16 Women and the Family 209John D. RamsbottomPart III Religion 22317 The Church of England 225Jeremy Gregory18 Religious Minorities in England 241Colin Haydon19 Methodism and the Evangelical Revival 252G. M. Ditchfield20 Religion in Scotland 260Stewart J. Brown21 Religion in Ireland 271Sean J. ConnollyPart IV Culture 28122 Print Culture 283Bob Harris23 Political Ideas from Locke to Paine 294Pamela Edwards24 The Making of Elite Culture 311Maura A. Henry25 Literature and Drama 329J. Alan Downie26 Popular Culture 344Bob Bushaway27 Crime and Punishment 358James A. SharpePart V Union and Disunion in the British Isles 36728 Integration: Patriotism and Nationalism 369Colin Kidd29 Scotland and the Union 381Alexander Murdoch30 Wales in the Eighteenth Century 392Geraint H. Jenkins31 Ireland: The Making of the ‘Protestant Ascendancy’, 1690–1760 403Paddy McNally32 Ireland: Radicalism, Rebellion and Union 414Martyn J. PowellPart VI Britain and the Wider World 42933 Britain’s Emergence as a European Power, 1688–1815 431H. M. Scott34 Britain and the Atlantic World 447W. A. Speck35 Britain and India 460Bruce P. Lenman36 The British Army 473Stanley D. M. Carpenter37 The Royal Navy 481Richard Harding38 Britain and the Slave Trade 489John OldfieldBibliography 499Index 516