England in the Nineteenth Century, 1815-1914

The Pelican History of England #8

by David Thomson

The theme of this book is the major social changes which the people of England experienced during the period of the great peace between the Battle of Waterloo and the First World War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, European History, Victorian, Politics

254 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1950

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Thomson (1912 - 1970) was an English historian who wrote several books about British and European history.

He was a Scholar of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge from 1931 to 1934 where he took First Class Honours in both parts of the Historical Tripos. He had a long association with the college and was subsequently a Research Fellow, a Fellow and finally Master. He worked as a university lecturer in history and was a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York.

His works include Europe Since Napoleon (Longmans, 1957); World History from 1914 to 1961 (1963); Democracy in France since 1870 (1964) and two volumes of the Pelican History of England covering the 19th and 20th centuries.

Reviews

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the various series that Pelican did in their golden era, but the Pelican History of England can be ahem a bit trapped in its time - this one especially is 250 pages of 'how it is we became so marvellous'.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally written in 1950 this book is a clear and concise history of England between 1815 and 1914. It still stands up well after sixty years and is an ideal book to read for a quick summary of the period. Crap cover though.

[Frank Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succinct and worthwhile history of the Victorian age, by an old-fashioned historian who thankfully doesn't feel the need to get caught up in debates about culture and power. After all, he's got a good story to tell.

Thomson has an eye for surprising facts and telling anecdotes. Apparently it was the authoritarian Duke of Wellington who first converted to the cause of police reform in the 1820s, and, along with, though not lead by, Robert Peel, created the world's first non-military police force in London. It was funded at the time directly out of the "poor rate" tax, explicitly linking poverty and crime in the nation's government and culture. In 1842 Peel also established a permanent income tax as a foundation of British government, almost 70 years before the US would do so.

Thomson shows how the famous reform bill of 1867, which significantly expanded the franchise, was championed by the conservative ministry of Disraeli only because he and the Tories realized that reform was inevitable, and because they wanted to take the credit. Yet their plan for minority party representation in large cities (to reserve seats for conservatives (see: DC in 2010)) backfired and led to well-organized liberals creating their own tickets which in turn led to modern party politics, with groups like the "Birmingham Liberal Union" and "National Union of Conservation and Constitutional Systems" organizing coherently for the first time.

The book also showcases the early power of trade unions in England. When the House of Lords declared unions liable for strike damages and incapable of donating to political campaigns, the unions managed to overturn these decisions in the 1906 and 1913 Trade Union Acts (just like in the US today, non-political union members were allowed to "contract-out" their donated funds for political purposes). The conservatives also courted the unions with the 1905 Alien Act which restricted emigration (mainly Jewish) to a few major ports with powers of expulsion.

Thomson also draws attention to posthumous successes of the Chartist movement, the importance of the Irish question in British politics, and the power of individual personalities to shape history. Like few books I've read, it reminds one of how many of the same issues remain relevant today, even across an ocean. This is perhaps especially surprising since the book was written in by an Englishman back in 1950.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful and very readable account of how England and its history and development in the 19th century; how it responded to the challenges of industrialisation and how its peoples and institutions adapted and responded. Fascinating.

[Karolina Badowska · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a great book :)

[Grindy Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of material to cover in such a slender volume. Good jumping off point for anyone interested generally in English history.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good standard review of 19th C Great Britain. Not very entertaining.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was published in 1950, which gives it an additional historical dimension - I suppose it was aimed at an intellectually aspirational market of general readers. Compared to history books with a more or less equivalent target market today, this is tough going. You really have to read each sentence attentively, pretty much, and there's very little in the way of fun anecdotes or picturesque detail. And it covers 100 years in 240 pages, so highly compressed. I found it hard work, but worth the slog - it might not be if you are already a student or scholar of the period, but for me it was really illuminating. I certainly didn't take it all in, but it did a good job of weaving together all sorts of things I had only the vaguest fragmentary ideas about into a somewhat coherent and flowing story (I don't mean you can read it like a novel)
This was, I suppose, never going to be competing for huge academic kudos, nor aspiring to crossover smash hit status - it's a modest and valuable contribution to informing that mid-20th century public that wanted to know things and could be bothered to read for 'self-improvement' with little (well, zero) concession to entertainment, and I take my hat off to Mr Thomson.

Necessary PS, I suppose - obviously it is of its time (as mentioned, that's part of its interest). There are few ostentatious condemnations of bad stuff. That said, I found it (in some respects) surprisingly unantiquated in its implicit or occasionally explicit attitudes, where they did peek through. But of course no-one with any real interest in history (which should mean no-one at all) expects a writer in 1950 to come across like a writer in 2024.

[Richard Copeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A broad-strokes overview of the social, political and economic evolution of England during the 19th century. Though written in somewhat stilted language for today's reader, the book still retains value for the perceptive analysis and the author's ability to succinctly describe the major events and movements of the times. The concluding remarks resonate considering today's political and economic climate.

[EvaLovesYA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also posted on Eva Lucias blog

This is a series of history books which cover various periods in English (British) history. Although the books are rather old and newer sources should be used as supplement, they still contain a lot of information and useful theories in a concise form. They were written mainly by respected historians from Cambridge and Oxford Universities. The individual volumes have been reprinted numerous times, and it is still possible to get hold of them.

Suggested reading:
Volume 7: “England in the Eighteenth Century”, J.H. Plumb (Penguin 1950; reprinted and revised 1963), Part III, Chapter 1: “The Course of the Industrial Revolution 1784-1815” (pp.144-154) + Chapter 3:”Art and Science 1784-1815” (pp.163-170)

Volume 8: “England in the Nineteenth Century, David Thomson (Penguin 1950, reprinted and revised 1979), relevant sections in Parts I and II, (1815-1851 + 1851-1874).

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[Kaïssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice book. I learned many new things about England, its culture and everything.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a long century

[Savannah]

Eight years I've owned this book. I've owned this book for eight sordid years, and at last, at long last, have I finally sat down to actually, uh, read it