The Age of Improvement, 1783-1867

A History of England #8

by Asa Briggs

The Age of Improvement has long established itself as a classic of modern historical writing. Widely read and quoted it has had a unique influence on teaching and research. This second edition draws on the great volume of new research - produced by Lord Briggs amongst others, since its original publication. The book stresses both the underlying unity and the rich variety of the age, and raises fundamental issues about a period of crucial change in British history - industrialisation, war, constitutional change and the attitudes of politicians towards it, political development, and, not least, society and culture. In the background are the new economic powers based on the development of a coal and iron technology; in the foreground, new social and political problems and new ways of tackling them. The author also discusses perceptions of, and reactions to, changing circumstances, the influence of religion and science on national life, and changing styles in art and literature. The story ends, not with a full stop but with a question mark. Could improvement be maintained? Could balance and progress continue to be reconciled?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Research, Victorian, Reference

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs was an English historian, best known for his studies on the Victorian era. In particular, his trilogy, Victorian People, Victorian Cities, and Victorian Things made a lasting mark on how historians view the nineteenth century. He was made a life peer in 1976.

Reviews

[Vicky P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as sort of a foundational text in the historiography of this general period, but perhaps a pick that's too old and in need of replacing, given my own experience and speaking with my professor. It's a survey work that sort of meanders through years and various political figures and struggles to come to a point or maintain the interest in any meaningful way, unless you as a reader are already intimately familiar with the political figures under discussion. Not a terrible read, but not a great one, either.