2010/08/01 by Simon Devereaux · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Scottish History and National Identity #Historical Economic and Social Studies #Historical Studies of British Isles #Historiography #State (computer science) #Expansive #Politics #Nationalism #State formation #History #Sociology #Political economy #Law #Political science #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1478-0542.2010.00706.x
openalex publication_date 2010/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract This article (begun in a previous issue) reviews the four most prominent themes in the historiography of the modern English state during the last six decades, with a particular focus on ‘the long eighteenth century’ (ca. 1660–1837). The first is the vision of an expansive and centralized administrative state in Victorian England most famously set forth in the work of the late Oliver MacDonagh. Second is the notion of the state as an information‐gathering entity that has recently been forcefully stated by Edward Higgs. Third is the vision of an unexpectedly powerful, substantially centralized ‘fiscal‐military’ state during the eighteenth century, powerfully evoked in the work of John Brewer. Finally, a brief overview is given of the prodigious historical literature that has arisen in recent years surrounding the notion of the state as an abstract entity capable of commanding the loyalties of those people over whom it rules. The article concludes by suggesting how a more fully integrated vision of the English state in history might be achieved through a deeper, more dynamic interrelation of changing political–administrative structures and shifting social–cultural forces.