Historical writing in Britain, 1688-1830: visions of history

Historical Writing in Britain, 1688-1830 is concerned with developments in historical discourse during the long eighteenth century. The collection investigates a number of interrelated themes: the contested and unstable nature of generic boundaries surrounding historical literature; history's contribution to changing notions of national identity; and the ways that history operated as a site for the articulation of new forms of community. In order to capture the diversity of the period's understanding of history, a variety of subjects are considered including historical poetry, the historical novel, biography, and art history, as well as more conventional, 'classical' modes of historical writing. Taken together, the chapters in the volume demonstrate that eighteenth-century history shaped, and was shaped by, a series of revolutionary changes in ideas regarding historical genre, nationhood, and identity.