English Society, 1660-1832: Religion, Ideology and Politics During the Ancien Regime
Cambridge University Press
Edition: 2, 3/16/2000
EAN 9780521661805, ISBN10: 0521661803
Hardcover, 596 pages, 23.6 x 16.1 x 4.1 cm
Language: English
This is a revised and extensively rewritten edition of a work first published in 1985 as English Society 1688–1832. That book arrived at the opening of a new phase in English historiography, which questioned much of the received picture of English society as secular, modernising, contractarian, and middle class; it began the recovery of the 'long eighteenth century', the period which saw a form of state defined by the close relationship of monarchy, aristocracy and church. In particular, it placed religion at the centre of social and intellectual life, and used ecclesiastical history to illuminate many historical themes more commonly examined in a secular framework. In its updated form, this book reinforces these theses with new evidence, which extends its arguments into fresh areas of enquiry.
Introduction
the nature of the Old Order
1. From restoration to reconciliation, 1660–1760
2. The social and ideological premises of the old order
3. National identity
the matrix of Church and State
4. Before radicalism
the religious origins of disaffection, 1688–1800
5. The old order on the eve of its demise
slow erosion
6. The end of the Protestant constitution, 1800–1832
sudden collapse.