Literature Blogs

'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive' (William Wordsworth, The Prelude) The dates of the Romantic period of literature are not precise and the term 'romantic' was itself not widely used until after the period in question. Conventionally, the period begins in 1798, which saw the publication by Wordsworth and Coleridge of their Lyrical Ballads and ends in 1832 a year which saw the death of Sir Walter Scott and the enactment by the parliament of the First Reform Bill. These years link literary and political events. The Romantic period was an era in which a literary revolution took place alongside social and economic revolutions. In some histories of literature, the Romantic period is called the 'Age of Revolutions'. The Period was one of rapid change as the nation was transformed from an agricultural country to an industrial one. The laws of a free market, development by the economist Adam Smith in this book Wealth of Nations (1776), dominated peoples lives. At ...

AGE OF TRANSITION HISTORIANS        David Hume   (1711 - 1776) :   Born  and educated at Edinburgh, Hume first distinguished himself as a philosopher,  publishing A treatise of Human Nature and Essays, Moral and Political. Later he turned historical works, writing The History of England, in six volumes. As a historian, Hume makes no pretence at profound research, so that his work has little permanent value as history. He possesses a clear and logical mind and a swift and brilliant narrative style. In the history of literature, his work is of importance as being first of the popular and literary histories of the country.       William Robertson (1721-1793) :    Robertson also was a Scot, being born in the country of Midlothian. After leaving university, he entered the Scottish church. He had an active and successful career as a historian, producing among other works The History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary ...