I

Introduction

This book grew out of an invitation from the editors of the
Historische ^eitschrift to produce an article reviewing the writings
on modern English history that had appeared since the end of
the Second World War; the resulting Literaturbericht, running
down to May 1967, appeared mSonderhefis (1969). I am grate-
ful to the Historuche ^eitsckrift, and especially to its now retired
editor, Professer W. Kienast, for allowing me to treat that
article as my own property. The suggestion made by Mr Peter
Wait, of Methuen & Co., that an English version might be
useful, found support here and there: hence this book. It
differs from the German version in several respects. In the
first place, I have continued the story down to the end of 1969.
Secondly, the fact that I now have rather more space, and the
disquieting discovery of too many omissions, have enabled me
to add quite a few items that should have been there before.
And lastly, I soon found that it would not be advisable to pro-
duce a straight translation. The earlier version was addressed
to a German audience unfamiliar with developments in Eng-
lish historiography; the present one thus needs to speak
differently and in a different tone. Instead of translating, I
have rewritten.

The twenty-five years which have passed since peace res-
tored English scholars to their more normal employment have
seen some remarkable transformations in our understanding of
English history since the accession of the Tudors. Even though
pre-war books and pre-war scholars have not vanished from
the field, one may with justice speak of a major renewal and -
so far as parts of the story are concerned - of a total reconsti-
tution. There are areas of this history in which nothing written
before 1945 can usefully be consulted, and for the whole period
it is fair to say that no synthesis - no textbook or general