The Idea of History in Early Stuart England

David R. Schweitzer is a British and European History lecturer at the
University of Guelph.

This work is an inquiry into how British historians perceived history,
how they defined the word, and how that definition changed as the
Elizabethan age gave way to that of the early Stuarts. The subject is
treated both topically and chronologically, in eight chapters whose
subjects range from the changing structure of historiography to changes
in the ways biographers approached their work, to how historians saw
themselves as counsellors, to the pervading theme of how antiquarianism
evolved into history while still retaining a separate identity.

To illustrate his conclusions about the changing state of
historiography, Woolf closely scrutinizes the writings of the great
historians (e.g., Ralegh, Bacon, Camden, Godwin, Cotton, Greville, and
Selden), as well as the important contributions of lesser-known scholars
(e.g., Edward Ayscu, John Speed, William Martyn, Samuel Daniel, Sir John
Hayward, and Edmund Bolton).

While Woolf does not wish to enter the current debate on the alleged
“historical revolution,” he concludes that one cannot deny that some
fundamental changes occurred, especially in ideas about the purpose and
scope of history. He also reveals how both official censorship and
self-censorship of unorthodox views disappeared during the time of the
early Stuarts, making way for an atmosphere of open ideological
conflict, and for the growing awareness of historians’ political and
religious perspectives.

This book is a shining example of scholarly erudition that is clearly
written and a pleasure to read. The thesis is bolstered by a myriad of
supporting references and an excellent bibliography. While the subject
is not new, this important contribution to the field deserves a place in
historians’ libraries beside F. Smith Fussner’s The Historical
Revolution (1962) and F.J. Levy’s Tudor Historical Thought (1967); it
serves as an excellent complement to these standard works.