Continuum Histories – serie

In 1837 Thomas Carlyle published his two-volume work "The French Revolution: A History" and overnight became a celebrity. The work was filled with a passionate intensity, hitherto unknown in historical writing. This title offers an introduction to Carlyle and his masterwork, followed by a series of carefully selected extracts.

This book presents an accessible introduction to Maculey's major work with a masterly introduction by John Burrow. Thomas Babington Macaulay's "History of England from the Accession of James II" was his masterwork and one of the great enduring classics of English historical writing. The first two volumes were published in 1848 and achieved a huge success. They were published in numerous editions both in Great Britain and in the United States. This volume in the "Continuum History Series" contains the celebrated third chapter which inherently contributed to the development of social history by presenting a highly contextually relevant extensive survey of English society in the year 1685, in terms of such things as population, cities, classes and tastes. Macaulay's approach to his subject, as John Burrow explains in his masterly introduction, was that of a definite advocate of 'progress'. He saw many real achievements in British and World history as resulting from policies pursued by Whig political interest. 'The history of our country' he wrote 'during the last hundred and sixty years is eminently the history of physical, or moral and of intellectual improvement'.Macaulay's work must be of compelling interest to any student of history today. As a writer of the finest English prose, he is beyond compare.

J.H. Elliott sets Prescott's work against the background of the growth of historical research. This book contains a substantial extract from William H. Prescott's major work "A History of the Conquest of Mexico". Prescott lived from 1796-1859 and his book was a pioneering view of the Aztec civilisation. The country of the ancient Mexicans or Aztecs, as they were known, formed but a very small part of the extensive territories which make up modern Mexico. The story of the life of Hernando Cortes, the Conqueror and the tragic story of Moctezuma the Aztec king are essential to this history. It has been immortalised in works such as the play "The Royal Hunt of the Sun". In his fascinating introduction J.H. Elliott sets Prescott's work against the background of the growth of historical research. The extracts from Prescott's book demonstrate that he is among the finest of English prose stylists.