The History of England by Thomas Babington McCaulay

                                               Published by Penguin Classics in 1986

                     Edited and Abridged, with an Introduction by Hugh Trevor-Roper

Thomas Babington McCaulay, 1800 - 1859, studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and spent a large part of his life as a Whig member of Parliament.  The first two volumes of The History of England were published in 1849, and two more in 1855, with one published posthumously in 1861. 

    The excerpt from this history which I read concentrates on a complex era in English history, the time between the Restoration of Charles II to the throne and the ascension to it of the Dutch Protestant William of Orange and his wife, Mary, Protestant daughter of James II and Anne Hyde.

    James II, the third son of Charles I, the brother of Charles II, and a Catholic, took the thrones of England and Scotland after the death of his brother.  However, both English and Scots remained largely Protestant and feared a return of Catholicism and the religious violence that marked the reigns of Mary I and Elizabeth.  James' ongoing support of Catholic causes stirred suspicions that ended in his being forced from the throne and into exile.

    William and Mary became King and Queen of England and Scotland in what history now calls "the Glorious Revolution".

    The Old Pretender, the Young Pretender--who were they?  James Edward Stuart,  the Old Pretender and putative James III of England (James VIII of Scotland) twice attempted to invade Scotland and recover those crowns for the Stuarts. His son, the Young Pretender, Charles Edward, popularly known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie", managed to take Edinburgh, defeated the Scottish army at Prestonpans and marched toward London, only to be permanently defeated at the battle of Culloden, after which he fled to France.

    This book did a good deal to clarify some of the reasons for the ongoing antipathy between the Irish and the British, and explains why the citizens of northern Ireland refer to themselves as "Orangemen".

    Englishmen of the day used the epithets, "savages", and "barbarians" to describe the native Irish.  James II brought armies of them to England to fight for the Catholic cause, but their "uncivilized" cruelty only harmed it. After his deposition, he crossed the Irish sea with the aid of the French to attack the Protestant settlers of Ulster. William of Orange came to their rescue. Long and bloody battles ensued, until the final defeat of James at the battle of the Boyne.

    I highly recommend this selection from McCaulay's History which, translated to modern spelling and grammar, is an enjoyable and informative  read.

    (Note:  More information on Charles II, James II, William and Mary, and the Pretenders can be found in Wikipedia.)

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book reviews

The Suspect

by John Lescroart

      Signet, 2007

The Geezer loves John Lescroart's books, and this one is no exception. Glitsky is notably absent from the narrative, and Hardy plays a minor role. Nevertheless, The Sus- pect tells the compelling story of a man convicted in the minds of the San Fran-cisco police before being arrested, much less tried.

Everything he says or does only adds to the perception of guilt by just about everyone except for Gina Roark, returning to her law practice after being suddenly widowed.  Despite warnings from her colleagues about believing in the innocence of a defendant, she plunges into the case. Is her client guilty or innocent?  Read the book and find out.