The English Revolution, 1688-1689

The experiences of English government in the 1600's must be grasped to understand why the Declaration of Independence, and to a lesser extent, the Constitution of the USA contained the words they contained.

This short, dense book does an excellent job showing how the Glorious Revolution happened. Trevelyan compares and contrasts the behavior of Cavaliers and Roundheads in earlier decades against the behavior of Tory and Whig factions around the time of the Revolution to give a sense of why the earlier times led to Cromwell and later times led to William and Mary. It's hard to be sure about cause and effect when you're just looking at one country's history--as an economist, I know how hard this is--but Trevelyan is relatively persuasive and always engaging.Trevelyan is an opinionated Whig historian, and in his hands this turns out to be a strength: He knows that we know that he's biased, so he's always handing the reader fairly credible evidence that the facts really support his interpretation. Trevelyan starts off at a running pace and takes a lot of historical background for granted, so a glance at Wikipedia during the first few pages will be a good idea unless you're familiar with the names of leading Whig and Tory politicians of the Restoration era. But quickly the narrative becomes self-contained, analytical, thoughtful, and poetic all at once.If you want to know how the misguided embrace of an ill-conceived political dogma (the Tory-driven divine right of kings) plus an overreaching executive branch (James II's Declaration of Indulgence) could, at least once in human history, set off a revolution that created a durable improvement in the political system, then this is the book for you. Strongly recommended.And when you're done, I suggest reading (Nobelist) Douglass North and Barry Weingast's controversial, influential essay, "Constitutions and Commitment," on how the Glorious Revolution, by durably strengthening Parliament, improved British financial markets and laid part of the foundation for Britain's economic revolution.

Harvard's Endowment Is Bigger Than Half the World's EconomiesBoston.com staff

Product has dirty page edges; Pages have no writing on them and binding is tight.

okay

This book was written in the 1930s and is now coming back as a reprint. With all the revisionist history floating around (Ungrateful Daughters), it is good to read something about why James II did lose his throne. Basically James II was an inept leader who attacked his base of support (Tories) and alienated the Whigs. When William I landed and advanced on London, James II gave up and fled. If he would have stayed, he and his son would have ruled Great Britain with the consent of Parliament. Trevelyan does a good job of detailing how James II lost his throne.This is an academic read. There is little dramatic actions in this book. It is simply an explanation of how a leader should not rule. This is also a short read for someone looking to understand the Glorious Revolution.

Todo estupendo. Tardó sus días en cruzar el Atlántico, pero todo ok.

Non si trovava altrove