The orthodox view of eighteenth-century Britain is of a stable polity dominated by politeness and commercialism. It projects a world that was safe and comfortable for the landed elite and full of opportunity for the middling sorts marching towards their Victorian destiny.
But what kind of stable polity undergoes two revolutions within one hundred years and lapses into internal war on seven occasions during 1688-1803? Our cosy vision of the eighteenth century is surely deep-seated, but it cannot cope with revolutionary movements like Jacobitism, the American Patriots and the...
The orthodox view of eighteenth-century Britain is of a stable polity dominated by politeness and commercialism. It projects a world that was safe ...
