This famous survey has been updated to incorporate the new perspectives of the last twelve years. The study opens with one Revolution, the Reformation, and closes with another - the Civil War of the mid-17th century and the abolition of the monarchy. Alan Smith explores the dramatic changes during this period when the country was forged into a '`nation state." Its centrepiece however, remains the extraordinary achievements of the Elizabethan and Jacobean age, and these glories are given full treatment in this masterly account.

This famous survey has been updated to incorporate the new perspectives of the last twelve years. The study opens with one Revolution, the Reformation, and closes with another - the Civil War of the mid-17th century and the abolition of the monarchy. Alan Smith explores the dramatic changes during this period when the country was forged into a 'nation state." Its centrepiece however, remains the extraordinary achievements of the Elizabethan and Jacobean age, and these glories are given full treatment in this masterly account.