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A People's History of England
A complete social and political history of England.
Contents Include:
Tribes and Legions
The Growth of Feudalism Feudal England,
The Decline of Feudalism
The End of the Middle Ages
The New Monarchy and the Bourgeoisie
Origin of the English Revolution
The English Revolution
Commonwealth and Compromise
Whig England
The Industrial Revolution
The Triumph of Industrial Capitalism
Liberal Ascendancy
The Organisation of the Working Class
Colonial Expansion Origins of the World War
World War
World Crisis
Note about Books Index.
Excerpt from A People's History of England
Early maps show a world in which Britain is a remote outpost, a shapeless cluster of islands thrust out into the encircling ocean. But in some of these maps a significant tilt brings their South-western coast close to the North of Spain, reminding us that earlier still, centuries before the making of any maps that have survived, Britain lay not outside the world but on a regular and frequented trade route which linked Mediterranean civilisation with the amber-bearing North. It was by this long sea route and not across the Dover Straits or the Channel that civilisation first reached these shores.
In Cornwall, in Ireland and along the coast of Wales and Scotland cluster the monuments left by Iberian or Megalithic men who reached and peopled Britain between 3000 and 2000 A final group of such monuments in Sutherland, the last point at which their ships touched land before pushing across the North Sea to Scandinavia, makes the route and its Objective abundantly clear. At this time the land subsidence which had begun a thousand or so years earlier was still going on, and the apparently shorter and safer route up Channel and along the European coast was closed, if not by a land bridge joining Britain to the continent, then by straits that were narrow, shifting, shoaling and swept by rapid tides. This is perhaps the first reason for the settlement of Iberian man in Britain.
Contents Include:
Tribes and Legions
The Growth of Feudalism Feudal England,
The Decline of Feudalism
The End of the Middle Ages
The New Monarchy and the Bourgeoisie
Origin of the English Revolution
The English Revolution
Commonwealth and Compromise
Whig England
The Industrial Revolution
The Triumph of Industrial Capitalism
Liberal Ascendancy
The Organisation of the Working Class
Colonial Expansion Origins of the World War
World War
World Crisis
Note about Books Index.
Excerpt from A People's History of England
Early maps show a world in which Britain is a remote outpost, a shapeless cluster of islands thrust out into the encircling ocean. But in some of these maps a significant tilt brings their South-western coast close to the North of Spain, reminding us that earlier still, centuries before the making of any maps that have survived, Britain lay not outside the world but on a regular and frequented trade route which linked Mediterranean civilisation with the amber-bearing North. It was by this long sea route and not across the Dover Straits or the Channel that civilisation first reached these shores.
In Cornwall, in Ireland and along the coast of Wales and Scotland cluster the monuments left by Iberian or Megalithic men who reached and peopled Britain between 3000 and 2000 A final group of such monuments in Sutherland, the last point at which their ships touched land before pushing across the North Sea to Scandinavia, makes the route and its Objective abundantly clear. At this time the land subsidence which had begun a thousand or so years earlier was still going on, and the apparently shorter and safer route up Channel and along the European coast was closed, if not by a land bridge joining Britain to the continent, then by straits that were narrow, shifting, shoaling and swept by rapid tides. This is perhaps the first reason for the settlement of Iberian man in Britain.
485 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1938
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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January 6, 2026Annotated Book in F. Scott Fitzgerald's College of One
July 30, 2017
I've been living in England since September of 2014, and arrived with only the most rudimentary sense of what England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom were all about. I mostly knew of "Britain" through a history of it's imperial rule in other lands, and completely ignored references to what was happening internally, particularly in relation to the dull and what I assumed to be rather irrelevant list of kings and queens.
Taking on Moron's book was a dive into the deep end of the pool, as this is a challenging text likely written for an audience that was looking for a fresh analysis of an already understood narrative, whil I approached it for the most part entirely ignorant of English history, conventionally written or not.
I'm glad I made it through to the end, and also glad I maintained the pace I did, which was extremely slow and deliberate, and often supplemented by online lectures about the period in question found on You Tube and listened to as I fell asleep. England is becoming one of my homes, and is the place where I am now local. I cannot imagine a better foundational text to have read about this particular country as I continue my endless pursuit to know what is really happening and why it is really happening, beyond the litany of proximate causes that are often mistaken for historical truth.
Taking on Moron's book was a dive into the deep end of the pool, as this is a challenging text likely written for an audience that was looking for a fresh analysis of an already understood narrative, whil I approached it for the most part entirely ignorant of English history, conventionally written or not.
I'm glad I made it through to the end, and also glad I maintained the pace I did, which was extremely slow and deliberate, and often supplemented by online lectures about the period in question found on You Tube and listened to as I fell asleep. England is becoming one of my homes, and is the place where I am now local. I cannot imagine a better foundational text to have read about this particular country as I continue my endless pursuit to know what is really happening and why it is really happening, beyond the litany of proximate causes that are often mistaken for historical truth.
September 21, 2011
Howard Zinn wasn't first. This People's History was written in the thirties and was, for me, actually more interesting that Zinn's book, probably because there was so much more in it that was new to me, especially as regards the English Revolution, a topic barely touched on in the several relevant survey courses I'd taken in high school and college.
May 16, 2023
An eye opener and a must read to challenge the preconceptions and lies that underpin our national history and identity.
Taking place over many epochs I found the greatest value in the chapters illustrating the development of british capitalism, colonialism and imperialism.
The materialist insight into the development of the industrial revolution sheds light upon the ever present class struggle running through our nations modern history and inspires intense revulsion at the diversionary nationalism and exceptionalism at the heart of our national mythose.
Question the narratives of good vs evil and remember history is generally canonised in the vision of the victor or ruling class.
Taking place over many epochs I found the greatest value in the chapters illustrating the development of british capitalism, colonialism and imperialism.
The materialist insight into the development of the industrial revolution sheds light upon the ever present class struggle running through our nations modern history and inspires intense revulsion at the diversionary nationalism and exceptionalism at the heart of our national mythose.
Question the narratives of good vs evil and remember history is generally canonised in the vision of the victor or ruling class.
December 18, 2011
Excellent over-view of the history of the nation from 6,000 b.c. to the First World War. Clear prose style - a tremendous achievement.
October 16, 2025
"Peasants you are and peasants you will remain."
Morton's historical materialist approach to the development and different epochs of England is succinct and clear as can be. I'm all for dense, esoteric works, but something about how Morton makes this so accessible is admirable. As something of a historical layman, the way in which the dialectic and class contradictions are described and outlined are fully appreciated by someone such as myself. I came out of this appreciating and understanding Marx's theory of history more and that's not nothing.
Morton's historical materialist approach to the development and different epochs of England is succinct and clear as can be. I'm all for dense, esoteric works, but something about how Morton makes this so accessible is admirable. As something of a historical layman, the way in which the dialectic and class contradictions are described and outlined are fully appreciated by someone such as myself. I came out of this appreciating and understanding Marx's theory of history more and that's not nothing.
October 6, 2019
Quite possibly the best introduction to English history you'll ever read. It is accessible, provocative and often fascinating.
I'd particularly recommend it to those who've grown up in England and acquired a lifetime of random knowledge about the place. This book puts everything in perspective, and shows their interrelations. It should be required reading for anyone studying history at A-level or above.
The only weakness I noticed was when the author, writing in the mid-1930s as a member of the communist party, tackles (some might say evades) the period after WW1. I had the impression he felt unable to express himself freely about recent events, so skated over them in a hurried conclusion.
I'd particularly recommend it to those who've grown up in England and acquired a lifetime of random knowledge about the place. This book puts everything in perspective, and shows their interrelations. It should be required reading for anyone studying history at A-level or above.
The only weakness I noticed was when the author, writing in the mid-1930s as a member of the communist party, tackles (some might say evades) the period after WW1. I had the impression he felt unable to express himself freely about recent events, so skated over them in a hurried conclusion.
August 29, 2015
As Morton himself states 'In spite of its title, this book is not so much a History of England as an essay in historical interpretation'. Whilst much in the way of detail is absent, Morton implements historical materialism in a very readable way that brings its theoretical power to bare on aspects of British history beyond its usual concerns. Excellent introduction and overview to both British history and historical materialism.
February 11, 2025
Against contemporary historians who make a virtue of being a "splitter", i.e. always highlighting the contradictions and distinctions within social groupings, it is refreshing to read a history by an unapologetic "lumper" who is not afraid to draw linkages and express continuity across ages. Thus in his history of "England" (often Great Britain, sometimes the British Isles and even in some cases the British Empire and wider Anglo-sphere) he has arrayed on one side the Barons-Lancastrians-Cavaliers-Jacobites-Tories-Conservatives and on the other Merchants-Yorkists-Roundheads-Orangists-Whigs-Liberals. Within the conflicts of these two forces, arises the central character of the work, albiet one that is liable to dissapear and reappear obscurely, that is the mass of the English people, made up of the serfs, small farmers, agricultural labourers, craftsmens, journeymen and finally the industrial proletariat. But even within the expressions of this group there are blatant class differences, Kett's rebellion of the 16th century including both landowners and serfs, the Levellers in the English revolution being representatives of the small holders whose desire for unviersal suffrage did not extent to wage-earners, the chartist leaders such as Feargus O'Connor being virolent anti-socialists....
Morton does not dwell on these surtures beyond the strictly necessary. Speaking of the roundheads he says:
"We do not need to idealise the bourgeoisie of the Seventeenth Century, who had most of the faults common to their class in all ages, but it is possible to say that just because they were the historically progressive class of their time, they could not fight for their own rights and liberties without also fighting for the rights and liberties of all Englishmen and of humanity as a whole. "
In this we see the reflection of the popular frontism of the mid to late 1930s that Morton as a member of the CPGB ascribed to. From 1934, national communist parties were directed to abandon the previous periods strategy of uncompromising aggresion against the social democratic parties, and not only form a united front with them, but extend this hand of friendship to liberals and even conservatives who could be counted on to be "anti-fascist". This necessarily involved the suppresion of working class activity (something the Trotskyist took advantage of during the war). Morton is of course not guilty in his history of the same butchery of the working class that the stalinist parties took part in in the name of "progress" during his own time. Morton's butcher was english society itself, which worked hard to silence, disarm, and brutalise the english labouring classes enough that there would be no stable and coherent subject for him to follow. I also don't want to oppose the Bad Morton to the Good Thompson, where the silent worker can speak out in history through any and all ephemera (as interesting as that is). Morton's work has great advantages in both its clarity and explanatory depth. Yet it suffers from the same shotcomings as most bodies of work from the orthodox second international school do. This is the logic that causes parties to flip violently on the question of progressivism and sees history in terms of an economic base that is fettered by a political superstructure (for instance Morton uses the base-superstructure pairing to describe the Saxon township anticipating Norman government). The political problem is then limited to the task of revolutionising the superstructure, a task the middle classes are congenitally suited for. Despite its protesting otherwise, the book therefore can't help but be a paean to Whiggery.
Morton does not dwell on these surtures beyond the strictly necessary. Speaking of the roundheads he says:
"We do not need to idealise the bourgeoisie of the Seventeenth Century, who had most of the faults common to their class in all ages, but it is possible to say that just because they were the historically progressive class of their time, they could not fight for their own rights and liberties without also fighting for the rights and liberties of all Englishmen and of humanity as a whole. "
In this we see the reflection of the popular frontism of the mid to late 1930s that Morton as a member of the CPGB ascribed to. From 1934, national communist parties were directed to abandon the previous periods strategy of uncompromising aggresion against the social democratic parties, and not only form a united front with them, but extend this hand of friendship to liberals and even conservatives who could be counted on to be "anti-fascist". This necessarily involved the suppresion of working class activity (something the Trotskyist took advantage of during the war). Morton is of course not guilty in his history of the same butchery of the working class that the stalinist parties took part in in the name of "progress" during his own time. Morton's butcher was english society itself, which worked hard to silence, disarm, and brutalise the english labouring classes enough that there would be no stable and coherent subject for him to follow. I also don't want to oppose the Bad Morton to the Good Thompson, where the silent worker can speak out in history through any and all ephemera (as interesting as that is). Morton's work has great advantages in both its clarity and explanatory depth. Yet it suffers from the same shotcomings as most bodies of work from the orthodox second international school do. This is the logic that causes parties to flip violently on the question of progressivism and sees history in terms of an economic base that is fettered by a political superstructure (for instance Morton uses the base-superstructure pairing to describe the Saxon township anticipating Norman government). The political problem is then limited to the task of revolutionising the superstructure, a task the middle classes are congenitally suited for. Despite its protesting otherwise, the book therefore can't help but be a paean to Whiggery.
March 1, 2019
Introduced to this text as British History major by my rather Marxist professor, this reviewer approached it cautiously and learned to admire it. A.L.Morton's classic departs from the typical version of history relaying events based on which white man is ruling, to truly portray the people's history. Written at a scholarly level which does assume a fundamental understanding of the history of England, this is presented in a readable form making it palatable to more modern readers.
January 16, 2020
Clear and easy to read for such a large topic. I was expecting a little more on popular workers movements (especially in the medieval/early modern period). It’s a great achieve to cover so much ground without over simplifying elements.
May 8, 2019
A little tedious at times, but an invaluable read.
May 25, 2019
Amazing book!
June 28, 2022
Possibly the best history book you'll ever read. Sadly no longer in print.
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December 12, 2023DA30 M8393 1967 Memorial Library
April 11, 2022
pretty standard (and from more or less above / outside) social history of a country
December 21, 2025
A People's History of England by A.L. Morton covers the full expanse of English history from a radical perspective, beginning with pre-Roman times and continuing up until the First World War (it was published in 1937, for those wondering why it doesn't cover WWII). The book truly shines in highlighting perspectives outside of the main power brokers, while consistently placing events within the broader context of historical forces.
In the future, I will use this book as a reference point to analyze historical events from an anti-establishment perspective.
In the future, I will use this book as a reference point to analyze historical events from an anti-establishment perspective.
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October 11, 2012This book has made me interested in parts of the history of my own country that I was never interested before.
Morton was a Marxist and his description of the economics development of England was both new and incredibly useful and interesting for me.
Morton was a Marxist and his description of the economics development of England was both new and incredibly useful and interesting for me.
March 7, 2014
the original intentional "people's history" in the west, probably. very much a centralizing narrative, told from the perspective of leftist class analysis.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews