Revolution

Ackroyd (Rebellion) continues his fast-paced overview of the tumultuous English monarchy with the fourth volume in the series, an account of the "long 18th century" (1688–1815) that covers the evolution of literature, trade, technology, and politics. The last Stuart-linked rulers and their carefully cultivated improvements in trade gave way to the Hanoverian succession, whose first three kings (Georges I–III) pined for their distant German principality during the advent of the industrial revolution. Prime ministers Robert Walpole and the elder and younger Pitts enjoyed great rises to power while Samuel Coleridge, Samuel Johnson, Jonathan Swift, and William Wordsworth made significant contributions to English language and literature. Ackroyd successfully argues that this great confluence of events bred an era singularly ripe for notable changes in business and culture. George III is treated sympathetically for his long reign being tarnished by losing the American colonies and for his bouts of madness. Oddly, Ackroyd subscribes to the questionable claim that George III suffered from porphyria without referencing more recent scholarship on the king's famous instability, though he admirably attempts to offer balanced views of other major figures, including Queen Anne and Prime Minister Frederick North. Scholars and students may take issue with some elements here, but Ackroyd offers suitable background on the momentous events and key figures that helped create modern Britain. Illus.