Further Notes on The English & Their History
Additional observations and reading
Following my review of Robert Tombs’ The English and Their History for the Anglofuturism Podcast, I include here several other assorted notes on Tombs’ book, including:
Three further observations on reading Tombs.
How effectively and how early did administration develop in England, particularly local administration and book-keeping?
What were the causes of the modern Industrial Revolution in England?
On the prominence of Cantabrigian Johnians in the book.
Tombs’ interpretation of key events in English History.
Contents of the book.
Other reviews of Tombs’ book.
Thank you as always for reading. Please reply if you have comments, questions or suggestions. I look forward to hearing from you!
Three further observations on reading Tombs
How effectively and how early did administration develop in England, particularly local administration and book-keeping?
From an early stage, and consistently thereafter, England has maintained a sophisticated administrative apparatus, alternating between centralised and decentralised governance structures.
The Domesday Book (1086) represents an early pinnacle of this administrative prowess, followed by institutions such as the Exchequer—established in the 1200s as a financial accounting body—and the meticulous record-keeping maintained by parish clergymen.
Tombs notes that the sophistication of English government drove a high level of lay literacy. Trilingualism (English with French and Latin) was the norm for the educated. In practice, there was a hybridisation, with the languages being mixed together, creating significant changes in vocabulary and grammar.
What were the causes of the modern Industrial Revolution in England?
Tombs attributes the success to four reasons that went hand-in-hand:
So to explain English economic uniqueness we are led to what was different about England: technology, wages, consumption and energy.
First, there was a burst of new technologies and inventions — the steam engine, the flying shuttle, the spinning jenny, the condenser, and the “mule” — which helped harness energy through coal and steam.
During the eighteenth century there came an amazing succession of technological changes. Abraham Darby’s iron-smelting with coke (1709) bypassed the need for charcoal; Thomas Newcomen’s steam engine (1712) permitted the pumping out of deep coalmines; John Kay’s flying shuttle (1733) speeded up weaving; James Hargreaves’s spinning jenny (c.1765) multiplied the effectiveness of hand-spinning; Richard Arkwright’s water frame (1769) used power for spinning with rollers; James Watt’s condenser (1769) meant economical steam power; Samuel Crompton’s mule (1779) began mass production of high-quality yarn; Henry Cort’s rolling mill (1783) speeded up production of iron; Edmund Cartwright’s loom (1787) enabled water and steam power to be used to make cloth. These transformed the productivity of workers and were continually improved. The focused ingenuity that produced them was found among the often self-taught artisans and businessmen who were already involved in the “industrious revolution.” Ten “macro-inventers” have been identified: those mentioned above, plus John Smeaton (engineering) and Josiah Wedgwood (pottery).
High wages in England (which were higher than the wages in other contemporary cities of note, Amsterdam, Vienna, Florence, and Delhi) made these productivity improvements imperative.
What made these ingenious labour-saving technologies worthwhile were the already high wages of English workers. Also, buoyant consumer demand ensured that new technology made profits.
Because of the educated working class within England, a ready-made consumption market was available.
“Economic transformation did not begin with coal, steam and new machines. It can be traced as far back as the Black Death, and the rise in living standards that followed it, which made the North Sea region unique as an area of high wages, high consumption and capital-intensive production.” (Chapter 10)
Energy. Finally, assisted by breakthroughs in technology, coal mining gave an opening to industries to scale up the energy production for growing demand.
The epoch-making technological innovation was to harness energy generated from coal, marking the beginning of a transition from what has been termed an “organic economy” (wood-, wind-, water- and muscle-powered) to a “mineral economy.” This permitted England to overtake Holland in wealth and India in manufacturing. It also did much to shape the country’s economic, social and political geography, concentrating much of the new industrial activity near the coal-fields of the Midlands and the north. England had very large coal deposits, which were indispensable to the Industrial Revolution. But so did many other parts of the world, including India. It was only in England that the mineral economy could take off, because it already had a sizeable coal industry (80 percent of Europe’s production in 1700), principally to heat London, swollen by centuries of mercantile development.
On the prominence of Cantabrigian Johnians in the book.
Alumni of St John’s College Cambridge are, in the view of this reviewer, pleasingly over-represented in the book. This perhaps reflects Tomb's’ own particular familiarity with those characters. They include:
Lady Margaret Beaufort and St. John Fisher;
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley;
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford;
Thomas Hobbes;
William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson;
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston.
2. Tombs’ interpretation of key events in English History
Here is an overview of the way in which Tombs presents key historical events within English history (all dates anno domini):
Following the Anglo-Saxon settlements, Bede’s Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (731) formulated an English identity mediated by Christian conversion. The Viking invasions and conquest of the Danelaw (860s) spurred Alfred the Great to defend Wessex and unite Mercia, promoting English language and culture, with compromises concerning the Danelaw. Aethelstan then became the first king to rule the whole people (927). After Edgar’s death political turmoil ensued and Cnut incorporated England into a North Sea empire (1017).
The Norman Conquest (1066) “annihilated England’s ruling class,” leading to led to the systematic replacement of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Norman nobles. It also represented "the biggest transfer of property in English history", shifting governance dramatically from a system based largely on consent to one founded on force.
The Magna Carta (1215) was sealed by King John under baronial pressure. Though initially nullified, it was reissued under Henry III (1225), limiting royal powers and establishing legal principles. Its significance grew through Simon de Montfort’s creation of the first representative parliament (1265) and Edward I’s reconfirmation (1297), evolving from feudal document to constitutional cornerstone.
The Black Death (1348), decimated approximately half of England’s population in a devastating demographic catastrophe. The severe scarcity of labour combined with the accumulated legal rights of English peasants precipitated the end of serfdom approximately 400 years earlier than in most other parts of Europe, creating a relatively mobile workforce and laying foundations for future economic development and contributing to events resulting in The Peasants’ Revolt (1381).
The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) erupted when Edward III claimed France’s throne. English victories at Crécy (1346) and Agincourt (1415) temporarily secured French territories until Joan of Arc (1429) inspired French resurgence, ultimately driving England from all continental possessions except Calais.
The Wars of the Roses were primarily contained within the aristocratic sphere, largely involving members of the ruling class and their direct retainers rather than affecting the broader population. This dynastic conflict between the Houses of York and Lancaster (1455-1487) reshaped the English monarchy but had limited immediate impact on the daily lives of ordinary people, though its resolution under the Tudor dynasty would eventually lead to significant centralisation of royal power.
The Reformation brought bloodshed to England through events like the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) and Marian persecutions (1553-58), though nothing matching the devastation elsewhere in Europe. The establishment of the Church of England under Henry VIII (1534) and the subsequent dissolution of monasteries (1536-41) fundamentally transformed England's religious landscape and redistributed vast ecclesiastical wealth to the crown and nobility.
An Elizabethan Era (1558-1603), the long reign of Elizabeth I, brought religious compromise through the Elizabethan Settlement (1559), cultural flourishing including Shakespeare and naval triumph over the Spanish Armada (1588), as well as the beginnings of English colonisation, such as the establishment of Jamestown (1607) The Stuart Succession (1603): James VI of Scotland becoming James I of England, uniting the crowns and laying groundwork for eventual union, while surviving a Catholic conspiracy during the Gunpowder Plot (1605).
Subsequently, The Thirty Years War (1618-48) devastated Europe with unprecedented violence.
The English Civil War (1642-1651). Charles I, while politically inept, was a very mild tyrant who only ordered the execution of two of his subjects – his loyal servants Laud and Strafford, whose survival would have jeopardised his self-preservation. The period when Charles ruled without parliament was paradoxically a time of peace and prosperity, and it was religion not despotic rule that was his undoing.
The Glorious Revolution (1688-1702) saw Dutch William of Orange invade England (November 1688), forcing Catholic James II to flee to France. William III and Mary II were crowned (February 1689), establishing Protestant Succession and the Bill of Rights (December 1689) that created constitutional monarchy. William’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne (July 1690) secured his position until his death (1702), ending absolutism by establishing lasting constitutional limitations on royal power in England and securing Protestant dominance of the succession. The Act of Union (1707) followed.
From 1688 until Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo (1815), the London government fought the Nine Years’ War (1688-1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-13), the Seven Years’ War (1756-1663), and those against French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and later Napoleonic France. It won and (in the case of the costly American War of Independence (1775-1783)) lost vast territories.
During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), Britain financed expeditions of Dutch, Prussian, Austrian, Russian, and other troops via increased income tax, trade with its colonies, and the sale of government debt in the form of bonds. The Royal Navy became the dominant force, losing just one ship to enemy action between 1793 to 1815 while capturing or destroying 139.
The Industrial Revolution transformed Britain through textile innovations like Hargreaves’ Spinning Jenny (1764) and Arkwright’s water frame (1769). Watt’s improved steam engine (1776) revolutionised manufacturing while early canals expanded transport networks. England’s population tripled between 1701 and 1851, despite heavy emigration first to North America, then later Australia and New Zealand. The northern hemisphere’s climate also seems to have cooled in the early 1800s, ruining harvests in the first decade of post-Napoleonic peace. Britain experienced the costs of war, crop failures, and a population boom, which multiplied the number of workers and pushed wages down.
The British Empire grew significantly after The Treaty of Paris (1763), with the East India Company extending control following the Battle of Plassey (1757). Despite losing American colonies (1783). Britain’s naval supremacy was confirmed by the victory over France at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), establishing Britain as “the first genuine global hegemon in history” at the Congress of Vienna (1815). This is a position that only the United States has subsequently occupied, wielding its considerable influence with decidedly mixed results since the Cold War’s conclusion in 1989.
The English Century, is Tombs’ term for the period from 1815-1918 which was “the time when the English, for good or ill, made a permanent impact on the common life of humanity”, and yet it is also “the period of our history about which we feel most ambivalent”. Tombs explores the century through three intertwined lenses: Dickensian, Victorian and imperial. Notably, despite its vast Empire, Victorian England had “perhaps the smallest central-government machinery ever found in an industrial society”. During that period, The Corn Laws (1815-1846) protected landowners through import tariffs until their repeal marked free trade’s triumph as industrial interests eclipsed aristocratic power. The Reform Acts (1832, 1867, 1884) progressively expanded voting rights from property owners to urban and rural workers amidst Britain’s industrial transformation, reflecting the gradual democratisation forced by social pressures of the new economic order. The period also saw the abolition of the slave trade (1807) and abolition of slavery in the British Empire (1833).
The Victorian Era ended with the Queen’s death (1901) amidst growing imperial challenges. Britain formed the “Entente Cordiale” with France (1904) and alliance with Russia (1907) to counter German ambitions.
The Great War (1914-1918) “is remembered in England as a uniquely poignant and traumatic tragedy, bearing many meanings… Western Front battles caused repeated and cumulatively unprecedented bloodbaths in appalling conditions. They involved the whole nation: unlike in earlier wars, the middle classes and respectable working classes served en masse, and many wrote about it. One household in three suffered a casualty; one in nine a death.”
The Second World War (1939-1945), in Tombs’ view, was “the last great imperial struggle, the fourth great war in which Britain was victorious by being able to mobilise global resources against a European hegemon. Had (Britain) made peace with Germany in 1940, Nazi dominance of Europe for the foreseeable future would have been unchallengeable, and American isolationism confirmed… The subsequent defeat of an isolated USSR, simultaneously assailed by Japan, would have been inevitable, accompanied by a planned genocidal depopulation of much of eastern Europe.”
During that period, Liberal welfare initiatives (1906-1911) created pensions and health insurance under Lloyd George’s leadership. Suffragette campaigns culminated in women’s suffrage via the Representation Act (1918) and Equal Franchise Act (1928), whilst trade union militancy peaked in the General Strike (1926). The Beveridge Report (1942) later built upon these foundations for post-war social reform.
Subsequently, The Welfare State emerged under Attlee’s Labour government (1945-1951), establishing the NHS (1948) amid post-war austerity. Decolonisation accelerated with Indian Independence (1947) while the Suez Crisis (1956) confirmed Britain’s diminished global role.
The Thatcher Revolution (1979-1990) transformed the economy through privatisation and the pivotal Miners’ Strike (1984-85). New Labour (1997-2010) oversaw economic prosperity before the Financial Crisis (2008) and controversial Iraq War (2003), concluding with growing questions about national identity, European integration, and the union’s future following the Scottish Independence Referendum (2014).
Other Reviews of Tombs
Richard Davenport-Hines, A book of resounding importance to contemporary debates, The Guardian, November 2014
Christopher Silvester, The Financial Times, November 2014David Horspool, Unfashionably upbeat, The Guardian, December 2014
Tyler Cowen, January 2015
David Frum, The Luck of the English, The Atlantic, December 2015
Dan Wang, August 2016
Senthil Veeraraghavan, December 2020
Contents of The English & Their History
Introduction: Who Do We Think We Are? & Prelude: The Dreamtime
Part 1: The Birth of a Nation. (c. 600-1100)
This earth, this realm,
The Conqueror’s kingdom
Five centuries after Bede
Part 2: The English Unleashed (c. 1100-1500)
A well good land
“The world is changed and overthrown”
Writing the Middle Ages: Shakespeare and lesser historians
Part 3: The Great Divide, (c. 1500-1700).
Reformation
Revolution
The civil war and “Whig history”
Part 4: Making a New World, (c. 1660-1815).
And all was light
A free country?
The rise and fall of the Atlantic nation
The first industrial nation
Wars of dreams
Part 5: The English Century, (1815-1918)
Dickensian England, 1815-1850
Victorian England
Imperial England, 1815-1918
Englishness in the English century
Part 6: The New Dark Age, (1914-1945).
The war to end war
The twenty-year truce
The edge of the abyss, 1939-1945
Memory, history, and myth
Part 7: An Age of Decline? (1945-2014)
Postwar
England’s cultural revolutions
Storm and stress
Things can only get better, 1997-c. 2014
Conclusion: The English and Their History