The Oxford History of England (1934–1965) was a notable

book series A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their pub ...

on the

history of the United Kingdom The history of the United Kingdom began in the early eighteenth century with the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union. The core of the United Kingdom as a unified state came into being in 1707 with the political union of the kingdoms of Englan ...

. Published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, it was originally intended to span from

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

to the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in fourteen volumes written by eminent historians. Its series editor, Sir George Clark, contributed the first volume which appeared in 1934. The series as originally contemplated was completed in 1961. However, it was subsequently expanded and updated by further volumes and editions, taking the narrative as far as the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Several volumes were subsequently "replaced" by revised editions of which the last was added in 1986. Some of the volumes are considered to be classic works for their respective periods and some have been reissued as stand-alone works. The reputation of the series as a whole, however, is mixed.

John Bossy John Antony Bossy FBA (30 April 1933 – 23 October 2015) was a British historian who was a professor of history at the University of York. Career Bossy was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he was inspired by Walter Ullmann. He ...

wrote in 1996 that it "does not much ring in the mind" except for volumes 1, 2 and 15 (by Collingwood, Stenton and Taylor).

Patrick Wormald Charles Patrick Wormald (9 July 1947 – 29 September 2004) was a British historian born in Neston, Cheshire, son of historian Brian Wormald. He attended Eton College as a King's Scholar. From 1966 to 1969 he read modern history at Balliol Colle ...

in 1981 similarly praised the same volumes (and "perhaps" volume 12 by Watson) as "among the successes of a not entirely happy series". A ''

New Oxford History of England The ''New Oxford History of England'' is a book series on the history of the British Isles. It was commissioned in 1992 and produced eleven volumes by 2010, but as of September 2022, no more volumes. It is the successor to the '' Oxford History of ...

'' was commissioned in 1992 and has produced eleven volumes to date. At least six volumes are still forthcoming.

Volumes and authors

The volumes in the series are: *Volume I: ''

and the English Settlements'' – R. G. Collingwood and J. N. L. Myres (1936) **Later replaced by: ::Volume I A: ''Roman Britain'' —

Peter Salway Peter Salway, FSA (born 1932) is a British historian, who specialises in Roman Britain. He lectured at the universities of Durham, Cambridge, Bristol and Oxford, before becoming Professor of the History and Archaeology of Roman Britain at the Ope ...

(1981) ::Volume I B: ''The English Settlements'' — J. N. L. Myres (1986) *Volume II: '' Anglo-Saxon England, c550–1087'' — Sir

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

(1943) *Volume III: ''From

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

to Magna Carta, 1087–1216'' — Austin L. Poole (1951) *Volume IV: ''The Thirteenth Century, 1216–1307'' — Sir

Maurice Powicke Sir Frederick Maurice Powicke (1879–1963) was an English medieval historian. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford and was a professor at Queen's University, Belfast and the Victoria University of Manchester, and from 1928 until his re ...

(1953) *Volume V: ''The Fourteenth Century, 1307–1399'' —

May McKisack May McKisack (1900–1981) was a British medieval historian. She was professor of history at Westfield College in London and later professor of historiography at the University of Oxford and an honorary fellow of Somerville College Oxford. She is ...

(1959) *Volume VI: ''The Fifteenth Century, 1399–1485'' — E. F. Jacob (1961) *Volume VII: ''The Earlier Tudors, 1485–1558'' —

J. D. Mackie John Duncan Mackie CBE MC (1887–1978) was a distinguished Scottish historian who wrote a one-volume history of Scotland and several works on early modern Scotland. Biography Born in Edinburgh, Mackie was educated at Middlesbrough Hig ...

(1952) *Volume VIII: ''The Reign of

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, 1558–1603'' —

J. B. Black John Bennett Black (1883–1964) was a Scottish historian whose primary topic of study was of Elizabethan England. From 1930 to 1953 he was Burnett-Fletcher Professor of History at the University of Aberdeen where a prize is awarded each year i ...

(1936) *Volume IX: ''The Early Stuarts, 1603–1660'' —

Godfrey Davies Godfrey Davies (13 May 1892 – 28 May 1957) was a respected English historian of the 17th century and member of the research staff of the Huntington Library. ''The Mississippi Valley Historical Review'' summarized his contributions by noting: "T ...

(1937) *Volume X: ''The Later Stuarts, 1660–1714'' — Sir George Clark (1934) *Volume XI: ''The Whig Supremacy, 1714–1760'' — Basil Williams (1939) **2nd edition revised by C. H. Stuart (1962) *Volume XII: ''The Reign of George III, 1760–1815'' — J. Steven Watson (1960) *Volume XIII: ''The Age of Reform, 1815–1870'' — Sir

Llewellyn Woodward Sir Ernest Llewellyn Woodward, FBA (1890–1971) was a British historian. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and after the First World War became a lecturer in Modern History and fellow of All Souls C ...

(1938) *Volume XIV: ''England, 1870–1914'' — Sir

Robert Ensor Sir Robert Charles Kirkwood Ensor (16 October 1877 – 4 December 1958) was a British writer, poet, journalist, liberal intellectual and historian. He is best known for ''England: 1870-1914'' (1936), a volume in the '' Oxford History of England' ...

(1936) *Volume XV: ''English History, 1914–1945'' —

A. J. P. Taylor Alan John Percivale Taylor (25 March 1906 – 7 September 1990) was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his televis ...

(1965) Several volumes were subsequently revised by the authors to take into account later research.

Use of the term ''England''

When the series was commissioned:

"England" was still an all-embracing word. It meant indiscriminately England and Wales; Great Britain; the United Kingdom; and even the British Empire. (A. J. P. Taylor, Volume XV: ''English History, 1914–1945'', page v)

Since then there has been a trend in history to restrict the use of the term ''England'' to the state that existed pre-1707 and to the geographic area it covered and people it contained in the period thereafter. The different authors interpreted "English history" differently, with Taylor opting to write the history of the British people, including the people of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Empire and Commonwealth where they shared a history with England, but ignoring them where they did not. Other authors opted to treat non-English matters within their remit.

References

{{Authority control 1934 non-fiction books Series of history books History of England, Oxford Book series introduced in 1934

Volumes and authors

Use of the term ''England''

See also

References