The English

by G.R. Elton

Book Overview

A survey of the English experience through a thousand years and more, this book concentrates on the lasting characteristics of a people who early on discovered the fact of a national identity. The... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0631176810
• ISBN13: 9780631176817
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Blackwell Publishers
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Finally a ruling class that is also a people?

most of the people written about in this series have either vanished or have been absorbed into a larger nation/state but the English are both a people and a country so i realized the author is tackling a big order.Almost as hard for me to review it with anything that sounds sensible.You can't end this book with,they just faded away but we still have their(law or buildings)!So the English were originally a ruling class that developed into a nation so how did they do it?Maybe the question should be asked in another hundred or so years.It would have to be defined from more than "cradle to grave" socialism since about every modern nation is there and i notice how the authors of this series avoid the topic.Since these island territories have strict water boundaries maybe these warrior/farmer bands early decided to either try to get along or if not that then bury the enemy deep or use more moderate yet equally harmful forms of violence to relegate him to obscurity or trivial amusement.An intersting paragraph or 2 on British lawyers and how over the years they fancy themselves as knights defending the barons. Initially though they were more related to the greasy,(sleazy)religious cleric bureaucrats of the Dark Ages who defended the "flock"from the nobles.A little sleaze in defense of the downtrodden,just the thought gave me some from fresh air. Also being an Island nation,it would be easy to become socially,economically and ideologically isolated,a dangerous situation ripe for foreign invasions,so the oceans since prehistoric times are the lifeline.I had heard it mentioned that British zeal at making colonies is an overcompensation for fear of isolation.Elton states the English temperament as "litigous and difficult to rule"and from the read on this book the final tally of who the English are is being continually defined but a close look at political,economic,social,and religiuos movements since prehistoric times show a people not inclined to take a back seat for anyone.there are alot of interesting interpretations in this book.For one,it shed light on the "War Hawk" movement of the early 1800's in the United States. The War Hawks wanted to go to war with Britain in 1812 over numerous issues including the "impressment of sailors to serve on British ships".I always thought this stretched credibility (what there weren't plenty of sailors)?Elton has somewhat cleared this up by reminding me that Britain had abolished the slave trade in 1803 and actively intercepted other ships to search for contraband and slaves.Maybe the "War Hawks" were really upset that the British were interrupting their slave trade and those "impressed sailors" never really impressed the War Hawks at all.This book has alot of these type interpretations which one can misinterpret to his own ends,the mark of a good book!