Eric J. Evans

Professor Eric J Evans

This book has been thoroughly revised to take account of the latest research and to provide fresh perspectives on this key period when Britain was transformed into the world's first industrial power.

Early Industrial Britain, 1783-1870

The Forging of the Modern State

Jeffrey Richards

A Social History of Britain in Postcards, 1870-1930

Covers the momentous reforms in the British electoral system during the period from the Great Reform Act of 1832 to 1918 when women were given the vote. The study charts the series of Reform Acts right through the period, involving rather more attention to those important changes in the 1880s which are often underplayed.

Parliamentary Reform in Britain, c. 1770-1918

In this hugely ambitious history of Britain, Eric Evans surveys every aspect of the period in which the country was transformed into the world’s first industrial power. This was an era of revolutionary change unparalleled in Britain, yet one in which transformation was achieved without political revolution. The unique combination of transition and revolution is a major theme in the book, which ranges across the embryonic empire, the Church, education, health, finance, and rural and urban life. Evans gives particular attention to the Great Reform Act of 1832. The Third Edition includes an entirely new introductory chapter, and is illustrated for the first time.

In what has established itself as a classic study of Britain from the late eighteenth century to the mid-Victorian period, Eric J. Evans explains how the country became the world¿s first industrial nation. His book also explains how, and why, Britain was able to lay the foundations for what became the world¿s largest empire. Over the period covered by this book, Britain became the world¿s most powerful nation and arguably its first super-power. Economic opportunity and imperial expansion were accompanied by numerous domestic political crises which stopped short of revolution. The book ranges widely: across key political, diplomatic, social, cultural, economic and religious themes in order to convey the drama involved in a century of hectic, but generally constructive, change. Britain was still ruled by wealthy landowners in 1870 as it had been in 1783, yet the society over which they presided was unrecognisable. Victorian Britain had become an urban, industrial and commercial powerhouse. This fourth edition, coming more than fifteen years after its predecessor, has been completely revised and updated in the light of recent research. It engages more extensively with key themes, including gender, national identities and Britain¿s relationship with its burgeoning empire. Containing illustrations, maps, an expanded ¿Framework of Events¿ and an extensive ¿Compendium of Information¿ on topics such as population change, cabinet membership and significant legislation, the book is essential reading for all students of this crucial period in British history.

Early Industrial Britain, 1783-c.1870

Is Peel's reputation as an excellent Prime Minister justified? Evans questions this usual assumption and shows how Peel was largely responsible for the break-up of the Conservative party in 1846 and for its political wilderness.

Statesmanship, Power and Party

Sir Robert Peel

The Tithe Problem and English Agriculture, 1750-1850

The Contentious Tithe

First published in 1976, this book studies the impact of a uniquely unpopular tax on English rural communities. It examines the tithe system during a period when it was subject to mounting attack from political economists, agricultural improvers and radicals alike. Professor Evans has made extensive use of ecclesiastical and estate records to explain why the tithe issue became so unpopular at this time. He also studies in detail the work of the tithe commission, offering new evidence on the important question of how much the tithe system hindered agricultural improvement. This was in a period of considerable strain for the old village community, when tithe disputes significantly added to existing tensions and, particularly in the south of England, helped bring relations to crisis point.

The Tithe Problem and English Agriculture 1750-1850

Routledge Revivals: The Contentious Tithe (1976)

Drawing extensively on political memoirs,Thatcher and Thatcherismsurveys the origins and impact of 'Thatcherism' as a cultural construct and an economic creed. Focusing on the career of Margaret Thatcher, Eric J. Evans proposes that the ideological coherence and originality of 'Thatcherism' was illusory. He argues that 'Thatcherism' was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government which failed to meet its main objectives. He includes discussion of: * privatization and the fate of the trade unions * Britain's slow economic decline versus Thatcher's delusions of British grandeur * the legacy of the Falklands and of Britain's approach to Europe * education, the civil service, and crime. * the contribution of the poll tax fiasco to her fall from power. With full bibliography and explanation of the economic, social and historical context of Britain in the late 1970s and 80s,Thatcher and Thatcherismis an invaluable guide to the complexities and paradoxes of contemporary Britain.

Eric J. Evans

Books

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