Eighteenth-Century Britain: A Very Short Introduction

Spans the period from the aftermath of the Revolution of 1688 to Pitt the Younger's defeat in his attempts at parliamentary reform and considers the growing security and maturity of the British polity and the development of an industrial economy. Britain overcame challenges by foreign powers, and military setbacks to find itself in a strong imperial and mercantile position by 1789. Although the social problems of economic change and the failure to reform the political system remained issues, the rising middle class and the ruling aristocracy worked together to provide stability.