Steven G. Ellis Boeken

This text examines the formation of the British state. Topics covered include: Tudor state formation; Tudor reform in Wales and Ireland; Anglo-Scottish Protestant culture; the Anglican Church and the unity of Britain; and the Gaelic reaction to the Reformation.

This book challenges established opinion about Tudor Ireland. Instead of an embattled colony under only nominal control, Dr Ellis describes a recognizably English political structure, responsive to royal authority.

For all the development of new approaches, the writing of history continues to be strongly influenced by the national paradigm. It remains largely the product of the nation-state and its institutions. The theme of the present volume, Frontiers and the Writing of History 1500–1850, offers an unusual but illuminating perspective on these traditional national narratives. In early modern times, frontiers in their various forms constituted the margins of the embryonic nation-state: likewise in terms of history writing, both in pre-modern and modern times, frontiers marked the boundaries of the emerging national historiographies. Frequently, however, the agenda of national historians writing about ‘our people’ on one side of the frontier offers a very different ‘take’ on developments from the approach of historians writing to another national agenda across the border. For this volume, twelve acknowledged experts in frontier studies have been commissioned to write essays which explore the relationship between frontiers in pre-modern times and their representation in the various national historiographies. The essays focus on frontiers with a wide geographical spread, extending from the Baltic and the Balkans, to the British Isles, and North America.