The Making of the Modern English State, 1460-1660

by Philip Edwards

1460-1660 was a dramatic and crucially formative period in the emergence of the modern English state, language and identity. It encompassed the reigns of the last Plantagenets, the Tudors and the early Stuarts, as well as the victory of Parliament over the King in the Great Civil War and the amazing experiment of the Puritan Republic. The Making of the Modern English State traces the changes in politics and religion over the two hundred years that helped to form a new English identity. It is both an up-to-date narrative of the growth of the English state and an invaluable guide to recent historiography.

Genres: History

446 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Philip Edwards is a former King Alfred Professor of English Literature at Liverpool University. He is the editor of the New Cambridge edition of 'Hamlet' (1985). His many publications include 'Shakespeare and the Confines of Art' (Methuen, 1968) and 'Threshold of a Nation: A Study in English and Irish Drama' (Cambridge, 1979).

Reviews

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read to p.170, since that is all I needed for my research, but what I read was very good and useful as a political overview. This is a good one to return to in doing research on the trajectory of the concept of national sovereignty after Henry VIII's break with Rome and up until the American Revolution. Includes a good concise treatment of the Henrician Reformation.