History of England from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Revolution of 1688, Volume 1B

David Hume brought the same analytical rigor to history that he brought to philosophy, and the result was a narrative of English civilization that seduced readers across Europe. This volume sweeps through two centuries of turmoil: the grinding conflict between crown and barons that produced Magna Carta's living legacy, the catastrophe of the Black Death that reordered society, the epic futility of the Hundred Years' War, and the bloody dynastic nightmare of the Wars of the Roses. Hume writes not merely of battles and treaties but of the gradual emergence of the English character, the fragile balance of power that would eventually make revolution unnecessary. His prose carries the Enlightenment's faith in reason and human nature, even as he chronicles centuries of folly and violence. For readers who want to understand how England became England, this is where the story begins in earnest.