''The History of England from the Accession of James the Second'' (1848) is the full title of the five-volume work by
Lord Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 – 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Paymaster-General between 1846 and 1 ...
(1800–1859) more generally known as ''The History of England''. It covers the 17-year period from 1685 to 1702, encompassing the reign of
James II, the
Glorious Revolution, the
coregency
A coregency is the situation where a monarchical position (such as prince, princess, king, queen, emperor or empress), normally held by only a single person, is held by two or more. It is to be distinguished from diarchies or duumvirates such ...
of
William III and
Mary II, and up to
William III's death.
Macaulay's approach to writing the ''History'' was innovative for his period. He consciously fused the picturesque, dramatic style of classical historians such as
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
and
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
with the learned and factual approach of his 18th-century precursors such as
Hume, following the plan laid out in his own 1828 "Essay on History".
Reputation
The ''History'' is famous for its prose and for its confident, sometimes dogmatic, emphasis on a progressive model of British history. According to this view, England threw off
superstition,
autocracy and confusion to create a
balanced constitution and a forward-looking culture combined with freedom of belief and expression. This model of human progress has been called the
Whig interpretation of history.
Macaulay's approach has been criticised by later historians for its one-sidedness and its complacency.
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
referred to him as a "systematic falsifier of history".
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, ''Das Kapital
''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in materialist phi ...
'' (1867), ch. 27, p. 877: "I quote Macaulay, because as a systematic falsifier of history he minimizes facts of this kind as much as possible" His tendency to see history as a drama led him to treat figures whose views he opposed as if they were villains, while his approved characters were presented as heroes. Macaulay goes to considerable length, for example, to absolve his hero
King William III
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...
of any responsibility for the
Glencoe massacre
The Massacre of Glencoe ( gd, Murt Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland on 13 February 1692. An estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by Scottish government forces, allege ...
(1692).
See also
*
History of England (disambiguation) The history of England is the study of the human past in one of Europe's oldest and most influential national territories.
History of England may also refer to:
* ''The History of England'' (Echard), early-18th-century book by Laurence Echard
* ...
References
External links
* ''The History of England from the Accession of James II'', 5 vols. (1848)
volume 1vol. 2vol. 3vol. 4vol. 5
* "History" in ''Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches ''
Vol II
* (vol. 1-5)
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of England From The Accession Of James The Second, The
1848 non-fiction books
19th-century history books
History books about England
Whig history