The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain, 1783-1870 (2nd Edition)

By Eric J. Evans

Book Overview

This fourth edition has been updated to include recent scholarship and increased engagement with key themes such as gender, personal and national identity and the relationship between Britain and its... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0582089530
• ISBN13: 9780582089532
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Longman Pub Group
• Length: 486 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

A good manual

Evans's Forging of the Modern State is not controversial history, except insofar as it is driven by socio-economic causes that have become old-fashioned. The title says it all, with early industrial Britain having been the background for the forging of a modern political system, over a span of eighty or so years. Most contemporary historians would reject both such a directional interpretation and its materialistic premise. Indeed, Evans adopts a plain style that is far from the more sophisticated categorisations, based on religion and culture, one finds in a Clark or a Hilton. But Evans makes his choices plain in the introduction, which includes interesting historiographical information. He stands by his approach. And the result is an easy to read, manual-style narrative that is perfect for students and non-initiates alike. Fittingly, the appendix contains a useful compendium of information, with such things as maps, economic tables, and cabinet lists, in addition to the chronologies provided in earlier chapters.