Neoclassical History and English Culture From Clarendon to Hume [Hardcover]

This book looks at neo-classicism as a context for understanding early-modern English historical writing, and traces the implications of neo-classical history for English political culture at large. By paying close attention to historical genres and audiences, it reassesses both the famous and lesser-known historians of this era, dramatizing them as engaged in a struggle to preserve ancient models of historical composition in the face of a rapidly modernizing society characterized by party politics, print, Christianity, and antiquarian erudition.Acknowledgements - A Note on Abbreviations, Quotations, and Dates - The Weakness in English Historical Writing - Neo-classical History and the Modern World - Clarendon as the English Thucydides - Dr Brady and the History of England - The Death of Thucydidean History - General History in an Age of Party - David Hume as a Neo-Classical Historian -Conclusion - Notes - Bibliography - IndexPHILIP HICKS