J. D. Mackie (1887–1978)

This is part of the Oxford History of England series that was published between 1939 and 1965. It has since been superseded by the New Oxford History of England. The earlier Tudors was first published in 1952. It starts with an examination of the effects of the Renaissance on England before getting into the nitty gritty of the history with the aftermath of the Battle of Bosworth and the triumph of the house of Lancaster and the crowning of Henry VII in 1485. It guides us through the reign of Henry VII and then covers the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey and finally the reign of Queen Mary; 600 pages later.

The book moves chronologically through the history of the earlier Tudor years covering all of the events with some analysis behind the facts. At the end of each reign their is a summary of England’s position in the world and some scene setting highlighting the issues facing the next monarch. This was indeed an Age of Kings (and Queens) with Henry VIII establishing himself as the supreme monarch both temporal and spiritual and so it feels opportune to take stock at the end of each reign. This volume is very good at detailing the political events of the period and also in sketching in the events on the continent to enable the reader to understand the foreign policy decisions. It does also purport to be a complete history and so there is plenty of scope given to social history, economic history and literature and the arts. It finishes with a final chapter on the achievements of the age.

Reading through this volume there is so much history to get through that it could be overwhelming for a reader with no background knowledge. The list of contents at the front of the book gives some reassurance and provides the details to enable the book to be used as a main text for studying the history of the period; the contents list provides a brief sentence that covers nearly every page of the book. There are appendices showing genealogy charts, lists of office holders and a brief history of coinage. The Bibliography is gloriously detailed with sections on music, literature and architecture (albeit that it is now out of date) and the index is all you would expect of a history of this sort.

This original Oxford History series obviously does not have the latest up to date commentaries, but as a more general reader this is hardly a deal breaker. The books are still widely available through second hand sources at a fraction of their original cost and so if you want to get serious about English History these are the books to read. There are fifteen volumes covering Roman Briton through to 1945 each having different historians as authors. I particularly enjoyed the full coverage given to the Earlier Tudors by J D Mackie and so five stars.… (mer)