The Birth of Britain: A New Nation 1700 - 1710

by W.A. Speck

This is a vivid narrative account of the events, troubles and triumphs of the opening decade of the eighteenth century - of the life and death of Prince George, the trial of Dr Sacheverell, the Great Wind of 1703, the duke of Marlborough's victories in Europe, and of the union of Scotland with England and Wales - the creation of the British nation.
After an introduction setting the social and political scene, a chapter is devoted to each year. The rhythm of life was conditioned by frequent general elections of which there were no less than six, and the country was in an almost permanent state of election fever. Scotland too underwent a decisive election in 1703 which paved the way for the Union of 1707. Whether or not (as the author enquires) this was the greatest political conspiracy of the century, Scots now shared with English voters in contests for the return of MPs - to what for the first time could be called the Parliament of Great Britain.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 20, 1994

About the author

William Arthur Speck (born 1938) is a British historian specializing in late 17th and 18th-century British and American history.

Speck was educated at Bradford Grammar School and The Queen's College, Oxford, gaining a BA in 1960 and a D.Phil in 1966. He is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Leeds and a Special Professor in the School of English Studies at the University of Nottingham where he co-convenes an Interdisciplinary Eighteenth-Century Research Seminar.