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Title: Bolingbroke and His Circle: The Politics of Nostalgia in the Age of Walpole by Isaac Kramnick ISBN: 0-8014-8001-9 Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)
Rating: 4
Summary: This is a superb work on history of policital philosophy
Comment: This is a superb work - it clearly delineates the political and cultural clashes of the early Georgian period in English history. It contrasts the political philosophies of Bolingbroke and the Tories (nostalgic, reactionary, gloomy) with those of Walpole (experimental, pragmatic, forward looking) very comprehensively. The fact that Bolingbroke left so voluminous a literary trail while Walpole wrote so little of the theory of what he believed, does not deter Kramnick from clearly illustrating their philosophies.
He broadens the picture to include the literary figures of the period - Pope, Swift, Defoe and others and shows us how engaged they became in politics. This era was perhaps the first to spawn a profession of writers, who could actually make a living by the sales of their journalistic or literary works. It is ironic that the affluence which supported their careers should have been so criticised by the most of them. Gullivers Travels is ably contrasted with Robinson Crusoe - each reflecting the Tory (pessimistic) and Liberal (optimistic) views of either side of the debate. There is excellent commentary on the use of journalism and pamphlets to sway public opinion.
Bolinbroke, Swift, Pope and others essentially saw Walpole's England as corrupt, obsessed with wealth, and opposed to the traditional landowning classes. They saw the increase of the National Debt as ultimately leading to ruin for the taxpaying classes (landlords) while temporarily enriching speculators and placemen. This circle yearned to return to the 'balance' between peers, King and commoners which they felt characterised their ideal of the Tudor era. Kramnick gives Bolingbroke credit for at least being consistent to this view, and finds that his circle were fearful of the new economic forces rather than cynical in their opposition. In this he differs from most British historians in their view of Bolingbroke's character.
Walpole and Defoe, and the establishment are seen as being in favour of personal liberties, and limited government intervention in the lives of the governed. They are depicted as being favour of 'projects' - the new financial and trade methods which were actually increasing the wealth of the country. Walpole is shown as being intolerant - to the point of persecution - of the opposition press, and too tolerant of people in public office making personal fortunes.
I think this book, in its time, marked the start of a reassessment of Bolinbroke. Read now, it is for me the clearest synopsis of the battle of political philosophies which marked the beginnings of 'liberal democracy' in British History
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Title: Harrington: 'The Commonwealth of Oceana' and 'A System of Politics' by James Harrington, J. G. A. Pocock ISBN: 0521423295 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 20 August, 1992 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Inventing the People: The Rise of Popular Sovereignty in England and America by Edmund S. Morgan ISBN: 0393306232 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 1989 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: What the Anti-Federalists Were for by Herbert J. Storing, Murray Dry ISBN: 0226775747 Publisher: University of Chicago Press Pub. Date: November, 1981 List Price(USD): $9.00 |
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Title: John Marshall : Definer of a Nation by Jean Edward Smith ISBN: 080505510X Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 15 March, 1998 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Lamp of Experience: Whig History and the Intellectual Origins of the American Revolution by H. Trevor Colbourn, Trevor Colbourn ISBN: 0865971587 Publisher: Liberty Fund, Inc. Pub. Date: February, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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