Was the accession of the Hanoverian dynasty of Brunswick to the throne of Britain and its empire in 1714 merely the final act in the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688-89? Many contemporaries and later historians thought so, explaining the succession in the same terms as the earlier revolution - deliverance from the national perils of 'popery and arbitrary government'. By contrast, this book argues that the picture is much more complicated than straightforward continuity between 1688-89 and 1714. Emphasizing the plurality of post-Revolutionary developments, it explores early eighteenth-century Britain in light of the social, political, economic, religious and cultural transformations inaugurated by the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688-1689 and its ensuing settlements in church, state and empire. The revolution of 1688-89 was much more transformative and convulsive than is often assumed; and the book shows that, although the Hanoverian Succession did embody a clear-cut reaffirmation of the core elements of the Revolution settlement - anti-Jacobitism and anti-popery - its impact on various post-Revolutionary developments in Church, state, Union, intellectual culture, international relations, political economy and empire is decidedly less clear. BRENT S. SIROTA is Associate Professor in the Department of History at North Carolina State University. ALLAN I. MACINNES is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Strathclyde. CONTRIBUTORS: James Caudle, Megan Lindsay Cherry, Christopher Dudley, Robert I. Frost, Allan I. Macinnes, Esther Mijers, Steve Pincus, Brent S. Sirota, Abigail L. Swingen, Daniel Szechi, Amy Watson

In 1714, king George I ushered in a remarkable 123-year period of energy that changed the face of Britain and ultimately had a profound effect on the modern era. The pioneers of modern capitalism, industry, democracy, literature, and even architecture flourished during this time and their innovations and influence spread throughout the British empire, including the United States. Now this rich cultural period in Britain is effectively surveyed and summarized for quick reference in a first-of-its-kind encyclopedia, which contains entries by British, Canadian, American, and Australian scholars specializing in everything from finance and the fine arts to politics and patent law. More than 380 illustrations, mostly rare engravings, enhance the coverage, which runs the whole gamut of political, economic, literary, intellectual, artistic, commercial, and social life, and spotlights some 600 prominent individuals and families.

Three hundred years after the succession of the first Hanoverian king, this volume provides an intriguing perspective of a dynasty, challenging assumptions of the Hanoverians as petty-minded monarchs presiding over an inconsequential court. Looking afresh at the Georgian monarchs and their role, influence and legacy within Britain, Hanover and beyond, the chapters shine new light on important topics: from rivalling concepts of monarchical legitimacy and court culture to the multi-confessional set-up of the British composite monarchy and the role of the military, the Anglican Church and the aristocracy in defining and challenging the political order.

In the eighteenth century, Britain became a world superpower through a series of sensational military strikes. Traditionally, the Royal Navy has been seen as Britain's key weapon, but in Three Victories and a Defeat Brendan Simms argues that Britain's true strength lay with the German aristocrats who ruled it at the time. The House of Hanover superbly managed a complex series of European alliances that enabled Britain to keep the continental balance of power in check while dramatically expanding her own empire. These alliances sustained the nation through the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years' War. But in 1776, Britain lost the American continent by alienating her European allies. An extraordinary reinterpretation of British and American history, Three Victories and a Defeat is a masterwork by a rising star of the historical profession.

A reappraisal of the links between Hanover and Great Britain, highlighting their previously un-explored importance.

In the decade and a half before his untimely death at 46, Philip Lawson had already achieved more than many historians. This posthumously published collection brings together his work on the British overseas expansion during the ’long’ 18th century and includes two previously unpublished essays. The first articles deal with general issues of approach and interpretation, with Canada and the thirteen colonies, and with India and the empire of tea. The final essays illustrate Anglo-Indian relations and the tea trade, showing the relationship between the establishment of Indian tea plantations, the growth of the tea trade, and the political and cultural impact of tea drinking on the British and their colonists. Taken together these studies make an outstanding contribution to the field, important to anyone interested in the history of Hanoverian Britain as an imperial power.

The domestic and colonial history of Britain in the period between the Hanoverian succession and the early nineteenth century is the subject of the new essays collected in this volume, presented in memory of the distinguished historian Philip Lawson. Beginning with two historiographical surveys, the contributions go on to illuminate many of the issues which are at the forefront of historical research and controversy, including the aristocracy, the British problem, the political role of women, British identity, and the problems of empire in both India and America.