British History in the Nineteenth Century (1782-1901)
by . New York: Longmans, Green & Co. 1922. 8vo. xvi +445 pp. $3.75.
FROM the point of view of historical literature the twentieth century has not yet proved its right to be ranked with its more intellectual predecessor, the nineteenth century. But signs are not wanting that in this regard the next generation will see us on a much higher plane than we may claim at present. And one of the most significant of these signs is the appearance of George Macaulay Trevelyan’s British History in the Nineteenth Century. Combining in a fashion not common in this day literary grace and vividness with accurate statement and courageous speculation, it is a book that will find favor with the general reader no less than with the professional student. Those who have enjoyed Strachey and Charnwood will find Trevelyan an admirable companion, although without the glittering brilliance of the one or the broad sympathy of the other.
No author can hope, in a single volume, to present a complete narrative of British history in the most complicated century of modern times; but Mr. Trevelyan has, with a remarkable discernment of true values, given us a vivid and coherent picture of development and progress during the years from 1782 to 1901, when, as he tells us, ‘things certainly, and probably men and women with them, were undergoing a more rapid change of character than in any previous epoch of our annals.’
Since this book appears while the world is painfully engaged in the rearrangement of lives and of countries, one could wish that those statesmen to whose care the work of reconstruction was committed had been able to read it before beginning their labors. In particular, it is to be regretted that a copy of it did not he open on the peace table at Versailles!
From the downfall of George the Third’s personal rule to the death of Queen Victoria, Mr. Trevelyan shows us, each in its proper relation to the others, the economic, social, and political developments, in England and elsewhere, that led to the erection of the British Empire. He traces for us the course of the internal events in Britain which made the creation of such an empire not only possible but necessary; he describes, with due regard to the lessons to be derived from them, the complicated foreign relations which such an empire entailed.
It is to be expected that Mr. Trevelyan, inheriting the literary tradition of his father and his great-uncle, should show an appreciation of the importance of literature in considering any period of history. In a twentieth-century historical work it is interesting to note the frequent references to purely literary works — novels and essays — with which he illustrates many of his points. Not is he indifferent to the importance of great men who, he says, ‘are often in large measure the cause of some “tendency” which only they rendered “inevitable.”’ It is curious, however, that in this volume he fails to make the ‘great men’ really live for us. His picture of Gladstone is by far the best, but even that falls short of our expectations. It is in dealing with events and policies that he is at his best. Here his sound judgment, his clear presentation of cause and effect, his always reasonable speculation will be, for the average reader, a welcome contrast to the far-flung theories and somewhat colored statements of Mr. Wells who, for all his shortcomings, is comparable to Mr. Trevelyan in that he too has written a history which can be read by the layman.
The book is, quite frankly, written from an entirely British standpoint, and the author could hardly be accused of lack of patriotism even by the most enthusiastic of his countrymen. But it is wholly free from bias or national prejudice, and this is the more remarkable in a work written at a time when the animosities and hatreds attendant upon war were at their height.
EDWARD ALLEN WHITNEY.