In 1934, Oxford University Press published the first volume in the “Oxford History of England” series.  As subsequent volumes came out over the next 31 years, they came to serve as indispensable surveys of English history, the natural starting point for anyone interested in England’s past and a powerful force influencing our understanding of it.  Yet as the state of historical scholarship evolved, gradually the volumes became outdated in terms of their presentation and interpretation of the past.  In response, Oxford launched a “New Oxford History of England” series, of which Paul Langford’s book was the inaugural title.

In it Langford presents a wide-ranging history of England from the accession of George II to the loss of the American colonies.  He presents the era as a chaotic one, with the country still coping with the consequences of the Glorious Revolution, which let a deep impression upon politics and society.  Though the aristocracy remained the dominant group in many respects, the author sees the middle class increasingly coming to play a vital role in English life as the century progressed.  In an age of commercial prosperity, their”polite” values increasingly contested with those of the upper class, setting the stage for their gradual assertion as the dominant segment of society in the century that followed.

Langford’s book is an outstanding survey of Hanoverian England, one that draws upon an impressive range of scholarship.  Though his main focus is on the politics and society of the period, very little escapes his coverage, as economics, art, and literature also are addressed within its pages. Though he presumes that his readers possess some prior knowledge of his subject (the mini biographies of people offered in footnotes in the old series are absent here), his analysis and arguments are clear and forcefully made.  The understanding he provides of the era makes his book a critical resource on the subject, and a worthy successor volume to those from the venerable old series.

Robert Bartlett’s contribution to the New Oxford History of England series is about a kingdom in transition.  In 1075, England was a newly conquered realm of William of Normandy, who was transforming the sleepy monarchy of the Anglo-Saxons into a powerful feudal state.  A century and a half later, his great-great-great grandson, Henry III, issued a modified Magna Charta that served as the foundation of English common law, establishing the right of the English aristocracy against the king.  How this evolution took place forms just one aspect of this exceptional book, which addresses nearly every aspect of England’s politics, culture, and society during this period.

In doing this, Bartlett adopts an analytical rather than narrative approach.  Events are studied within the context of the broader patterns and developments of the era.  This makes for a more challenging read but also a much more rewarding one, with insights contained on every page.  Readers unfamiliar with the period should start with a survey such as David Carpenter’s The Struggle for Mastery, but even knowledgeable students of the period will learn much from Bartlett’s clear writing and perceptive analysis.

All too many surveys of history start with soaring language that stresses how the period being examined was one of great change. Refreshingly, Boyd Hilton’s contribution to the New Oxford History of England series does not do this, focusing instead on the continuities of English history from the late eighteenth to the mid nineteenth century. While acknowledging the dramatic demographic growth of this period and the economic transformations it spawned, he argues that the political revolutions of the late eighteenth century fueled an embrace of neo‑conservative ideologies that proved remarkably enduring throughout the period.

Hilton's argument shapes not just his interpretation of these decades, but his presentation of it as well. Arguing that a "politicization of society" took place during this period, he provides more political narrative than previous authors in the series have for their volumes. These chapters provide an insightful analysis of the period, particularly with regards to the political ideologies of the period. He supplements this with a superb bibliography at the end, one that offers a stimulating analysis of the historiography on the period.

Yet judged by the standard of the series, the book is something of a disappointment. The predominance of the political narratives crowds out other aspects of the era, most notably the dramatic technological changes so critical to it; these are usually addressed only in their consequences, and incompletely even then. A more persistent problem, however, is the author's presentation of historical arguments in the text. Often Hilton presents the varying interpretations of a topic or a personage with little sense as to his own opinion on the issue. While some may value the opportunity to make their own assessments, his effort at even‑handedness deprives the reader of the sort of informed judgments that have made the series such a valuable tool for understanding English history.

These flaws do not detract from the book’s many strengths so much as contrast them in stark relief.  Boyd’s sections on politics and (especially) political ideology make this book an essential study of the period.  It is only when compared to the other volumes in the New Oxford History of England series that its deficiencies become apparent.