Autumn 2009 Catalogue 4 pdfing:1 - Yale University Press

The latest definitive biographyin the acclaimed Yale EnglishMonarchs seriesJanuary650 pp. 234x156mm. 20 b/w illus.ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 £25.00*Edward IIHistorySeymour PhillipsEdward II (1284–1327), King of England, Lord of Ireland andDuke of Aquitaine, was the object of ignominy during his lifetime, andcalumny since it. Conventionally viewed as worthless, incapable ofsustained policy, and of significance only through sporadic displays ofill-directed energy or a stubborn adherence to greedy and ambitiousfavourites, he has been presented as fit only to be deposed and replacedby someone more worthy of the throne.This definitive biography, the fruit of a lifetime’s study, does notpresent Edward II as a heroic or successful king: the mere fact of hisdeposition after a turbulent reign of nearly twenty years is proofenough that it went terribly wrong. But Seymour Phillips’ scrutiny ofthe multitude of available sources shows that a richer picture emerges,in line with the complexity of events and of the man himself.If Edward II was not a successful king, neither was he fundamentallydifferent in many ways from most English monarchs. The biographystrikes a deft balance, taking full account of the problems the kingfaced in England, Scotland and Ireland, and in his relations withFrance. It also tackles the contentious issue of whether Edward II didnot die in 1327, murdered in barbaric circumstances, but lived on as acaptive in England and then a wanderer on the Continent. Eighthundred years on, a king’s life is properly examined.Seymour Phillips is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, UniversityCollege, Dublin, and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.The English Monarchs Series27This incisive examination of theorigins of the modern economyduring the Industrial Revolutionalso explains why this phenomenoncame to fruition in BritainSeptember352 pp. 234x156mm.ISBN 978-0-300-12455-2 £30.00*The Enlightened EconomyAn Economic History of Britain 1700–1850Joel MokyrThis book focuses on the importance of ideological and institutionalfactors in the rapid development of the British economy during theyears between the Glorious Revolution and the Crystal PalaceExhibition. Joel Mokyr shows that we cannot understand the IndustrialRevolution without recognising the importance of the intellectual seachanges of Britain’s Age of Enlightenment.In a vigorous discussion, Mokyr goes beyond the standard explanationsthat credit geographical factors, the role of markets, politics and societyto show that the beginnings of modern economic growth in Britaindepended a great deal on what key players knew and believed, and howthose beliefs affected their economic behaviour. He argues that Britainled the rest of Europe into the Industrial Revolution because it wasthere that the optimal intersection of ideas, culture, institutions andtechnology existed to make rapid economic growth achievable.His wide-ranging evidence covers sectors of the British economy oftenneglected, such as the service industries.Joel Mokyr is Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences andprofessor of Economics and History, Northwestern University, andSackler Professor at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics, Tel AvivUniversity.The New Economic History of Britain SeriesTranslation rights: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press, London