Product Description

G. R. Searle's absorbing narrative history breaks conventional chronological barriers to carry the reader from England in 1886, the apogee of the Victorian era with the nation poised to celebrate the empress queen's golden jubilee, to 1918, as the 'war to end all wars' drew to a close leaving England to come to term with its price - above all in terms of human life, but also in the general sense that things would never be the same again. This was an age of extremes: a period of imperial pomp and circumstance, with a political elite preoccupied with display and ceremony, alongside the growing cult of the simple life; the zenith of imperialism with its idealization of war on the one hand, the start of the Labour Party, a socialist renaissance, and welfare politics on the other; and a radical challenging of traditional gender stereotypes in the face of the prevailing cult of masculinity. Under Professor Searle's historical microscope, all the details of daily life spring into sharp relief. Half-forgotten figures such as Edward Carpenter, Vesta Tilley, and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman take their place on stage beside Oscar Wilde, the Pankhursts, and Lloyd George. Motoring and aviation, to become such an intrinsic part of life within the next decades, had their beginnings in this period as pastimes for the rich. From the wretched slums of England's great cities to their bustling docks and factories, from the grand portals of Westminster to the violent political challenges of the Ulster Unionists and the militant suffrage movement, from Blackpool's tower and beach packed with holidaymakers to the trenches of the Western Front, the energy, creativity, and often destructive turmoil of the years 1886-1918 are brought into focus in this magisterial history. THE NEW OXFORD HISTORY OF ENGLAND The aim of the New Oxford History of England is to give an account of the development of the country over time. It is hard to treat that development as just the history which unfolds within the precise boundaries of England, and a mistake to suggest that this implies a neglect of the histories of the Scots, Irish, and Welsh. Yet the institutional core of the story which runs from Anglo-Saxon times to our own is the story of a state-structure built round the English monarchy and its effective successor, the Crown in Parliament. While the emphasis of individual volumes in the series will vary, the ultimate outcome is intended to be a set of standard and authoritative histories, embodying the scholarship of a generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88953 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 976 pages

Paul Smith, Times Literary Supplement
"A masterful, lucidly written and well proportioned survey over the whole range of national life."

About the Author
G. R. Searle is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of East Anglia.

Customer Reviews

Comprehensive
This is the third book I have read in this series and the high standard is maintained. Once again it is not an easy read but it is a comprehensive one and very informative about all aspects of England and its life in the years covered.This is of course the period of the transition from the old to the modern world. The First World War changed everything and its course and impact are well detailed. On the way some modern myths are demolished and one understands how such a huge loss of life could occur from a mainly volunteer army. Between 1909 and 1915 Winchester school had 5439 boys leaving the school. 5431 volunteered for service. One also learns how the upper classes suffered the greater losses proportionately. 21% of Old Etonians in the forces were killed, 26% wounded. Contrast this with 12% of all British combatants killed.