This first volume in the new Palgrave History of Britain series builds a picture of 18th-century society and politics. Readers will find this a valuable guide to the period and will enjoy the lightness of touch with which a formidable body of knowledge is deployed.

First published in 1989. `The book is a distinguished work - of importance to students of governmental development generally. It is written in a fluent, non-technical manner that should reach a wide audience.' American Historical Review.

Georgian Britain experienced a cultural renaissance in the form of the Enlightenment, the establishment of an empire & the beginning of the first industrial revolution.

From Europe to India and America, Britain's Colonial Wars relates empire to the fortunes of war. In less than a century, between the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the settlement following the War of the American Revolution, the modern British state was born. This penetrating new analysis questions the centrality of the colonial enterprise to Westminster policy-makers obsessed with European issues, and explains how the impact of their strategies necessarily shaped the destiny of a multi-national and incoherent empire beyond the shores of Europe.

Jeremy Black sets the politics of eighteenth century Britain into the fascinating context of social, economic, cultural, religious and scientific developments. The second edition of this successful text by a leading authority in the field has now been updated and expanded to incorporate the latest research and scholarship.

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