Making History Now and Then Discoveries, Controversies and Explorations [Hardcover]

Collects twelve previously unpublished essays by one of Britain's most eminent historians, David Cannadine,?including his?inaugural and valedictory lectures at the Institute of Historical Research. A unique volume discussing the study and nature of History itself and a range of key topics and periods in British and Imperial History.Preface Inaugural: Making History Now! Perspectives: One Hundred Years of Doing History in Britain Monarchy: Crowns and Contexts, Thrones and Dominations??? Parliament: Past History, Present History and Future History Economy: The Growth and Fluctuations of the Industrial Revolution Heritage: The Historic Environment in Historical Perspective Tradition: Inventing and Re-Inventing the 'Last Night of the Proms' Nation: British Politics, British History and British-ness Dominion: Britain's Imperial Past in Canada's Imperial Past Empire: Some Anglo-American Ironies and Challenges?? Recessional: Two Historians, the Sixties and Beyond? Valedictory: Making History, Then? Appendix: On Reviewing and Being Reviewed

'This excellent collection of addresses and articles ... is a heartfelt plea for a better appreciation of history and historians, couched in Cannadine's customarily accessible style. There are jokes and witty asides, but the underlying message is serious... This book is a tribute to the great breadth of Cannadine's interests. There are chapters on Sir Malcolm Sargent starting the flag-waving tradition of the Last Night of the Proms; the place of Britain in Canada's imperial past; the birth of the heritage 'industry'; the changing analyses of the Industrial Revolution; the career of the maverick Thirties MP Sir Josiah Wedgwood, and very much more.' -Andrew Roberts, The Daily Mail

'Cannadine is a master weaver between the thens and nows of history. These essays show he is - in the best sense - a historian at the height of his powers.' - Gordon Marsden, History Today

'These essays confound any argl“