THE GIFT THE AUTHOR HAS TELLING ME OF HORATIUS IS BEAUTIFUL. THE WORDS THAT HE USES BECOME A SCENIC PICTURE THT ENTRANCES MY MIND AND CAPTURES MY SENSES. I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE LAND THAT HE SPEAKS OF AND FEEL AS IF I HAVE BEEN THERE IN MY MIND. HE IS ELOQUANT AND POETIC AND EVEN THE HORRIBLE BATTLES ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Then out spake brave Horatius,/ The Captain of the Gate:/ ``To every man upon this earth/ Death cometh soon or late./ And how can man die better/ Than facing fearful odds,/ For the ashes of his fathers,/ And the temples of his gods/ ... Then none was for a party;/ Then all were for the state;/ Then the great man helped the poor,/ And the poor man loved the great:/ Then lands were fairly portioned;/ Then spoils were fairly sold:/ The Romans were like brothers/ In the brave days of old./ Now Roman is to Roman/ More hateful than a foe,/ And the Tribunes beard the high,/ And the Fathers grind the low./ As we wax hot in faction,/ In battle we wax cold:/ Wherefore men fight not as they fought/ In the brave days of old./

Is there anything else to say? Karl the 12th of Sweden is a fascinating man with history to match. Voltaire's prose reads like a great fictional novel and provides philisophical insight into the times and life of Sweden's greatest king.

Macaulay uses about 100 pages to bring readers up to date from the earliest monarchies to the Restoration, and from there, goes on for about 50 years. The first volumes relate the reign of James II, and the final volumes the reign of William III.

Macaulay is unlike other historians. His wit and humanity appeal to the taste of the most hardened readers in every chapter. He ridicules where necessary, debates where necessary, and extols where necessary. He spends time with his readers to allow us to understand 17th century England -- what composed a country squire, why towns were powerful, how politicians canvassed their districts, how the nation regarded certain topics -- religion, the monarchy, the free state, the standing army, certain taxes, the antipathy to France, etc.

Because the panorama is quite dense with important issues and debates, statistical information on parliamentary voting sometimes will tax the reader, but I found little in his volumes that did not impact the subject, that did not carry an interest, and that did not support Macaulay's well-considered arguments and delineations.

Among my favorite histories! 2,100 excellent and highly readable pages.

"How To Hit .400" is perhaps the finest text on the art of hitting that I have ever seen. Macaulay takes the hitter step by step in developing the skills necessary for any hitter to maximize his abilites. Anyone wishing to improve his/her hitting will no doubt see almost instant improvement in their batting average along with added power- and, to me, THAT'S the name of the game. As Bobby Winkles used to tell his NCAA Championship Sundevils at Arizona State University,"You hit-you play for me."

Clive's real-life story would be judged as implausible if it came from the pen of a novelist. Robert Clive was the founder of the Indian empire, Britain's first guerilla fighter, conqueror of Bengal, and an avenging angel of righteousness.

Mr. W.E.S. Thomas, long 'Student' (fellow), of Christ Church College Oxford, has produced a small accademic gem in THE QUARREL OF MACAULAY AND CROKER. Mr. Thomas' credentials as an expert on Macaulay, Mill, and the Philosophic Radicals are extremely impressive and he is also the only man to thoroughly review and analyze Croker's works and papers since Jennings in the 1880's. Mr. Thomas has applied undoubted powers of political and intellectual insight - rarely found in but one historian - to tremendous knowledge and impeccable research to produce what is undoubtedly the finest work yet published on Croker [pace Brightfield] and the most thought provoking and informed view of Macaulay as historian and politician since John Clive. The narrative of the combat, both literary and political, between Macaulay and Croker is of enduring general interest as an excellent tale, for while the combatants are not evenly matched in reputation I would contend that they are indeed in ability. I would hasten to enjoin the general reader to seriously consider a work that would normally be consigned to scholars in a particular field simply for its clear prose, excellent reasoning, and necessarily wide ranging subject matter. As Macaulay and Croker both dealt with the very greatest questions of the modern world - the nature of government, the existence of progress, and the shape of regimes - Mr. Thomas' analysis and discussion naturally touches on almost all the important questions of political philosophy and historiography. I would further urge anyone with an interest in party politics to look into this work for its treatment of Croker. I have long thought that a feasible case could be made for Croker as the first political 'wonk' or modern political advisor. Croker served as the closest advisor to two prime ministers in difficult times (Wellington and Peel), the first secretary (chief civilian bureaucrat) of the admiralty for the later stages of the Napoleonic wars and its aftermath, a leading authority on Irish questions, and effectively political editor of the most influential journalistic organ of his party. Croker has the added distinction of probably coining the term 'Conservative.' Modern politicians and political advisors in my native city would not find Croker too foreign - in fact I believe that Mr. Thomas' book shows how he combined remarkable accume, understanding of his own position, and an excellent knowledge of history and theory to great effect. Specialists in nineteenth century politics will no doubt know Mr. Thomas' previous work by reputation and that alone should be sufficient to urge them to read this work. Students of literature should also take note of the work as Mr. Thomas has here elaborated his article in last year's fetschrift to John Burrow on the management of the Quarterly Review into an intimate portrait of how Lockhart and Croker managed that most influential of Tory literary journals. Those interested in political thought and historiography have a habit of buying anything dealing with Macaulay and I would urge them most seriously to take up this volume not only for the sake of Mr. Thomas' very realistic and sensible insights into that great 'whig' historian (although Thomas is none too comfortable with such a lable) but also for the views of Croker. I must add, by way of disclosure, that I know Mr. Thomas and have the greatest respect for him as a scholar and a tutor, however I think that works own merits will amply support my praise. For those who doubt my word I would heartily recommend they read an excellent review that appeared in the SPECTATOR in early December of 2000 - I believe I am in complete congruence with its sentiments. The Times Literary Supplement aslo had only the very nicest things to say. Quite simply, if you have any interest in political history, thought, or historiography I would most strenously enjoin you to purchase this most learned - and engaging - volume. General readers may find an occasional reference obscure, but they will also profit from and perhaps enjoy this volume.

this is a superb book edited by thomas pinney.
thomas pinney is an authority on macaulay.
a must buy!!!

Peter Gay Style in History (1974, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., paperback edn., 1988)

Peter Gay is one of our preeminent authorities about cultural history, and professionals historians in all fields can learn much from both the substance and style of his oeuvre. In particular, this thin book, principally essays about the style of four renowned historians of earlier times - Edward Gibbon (1737-94), Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886), Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59), and Jacob Burckhardt (1818-97) - is a treasury of observations about the historian's craft. According to Gay, "style" means both the literary devices employed by the historian, as well as his or her "tone of voice." Gay addresses both, and more, while cautioning that the historian is "under pressure to become a stylist while remaining a scientist."

The back cover states that this book is a "guide to the proper reading of Gibbon, Ranke, Macaulay, and Burckhardt," but I found it more descriptive than prescriptive. Indeed, Gay expressly intended these essays to stimulate "debate over the definition of history." According to Gay, style is a function of both nature and nurture. It is "in part a gift of talent," but it also can be learned. For the aspiring historian who looks to Gay's four masters for guidance, many of his observations are profound. For instance, in discussing the belief of both Gibbon and Tacitus, the Roman historian who was one of Gibbon's principal sources, that "the supreme task of the historian [is] to probe historical actors to their depth," Gay concludes: "The chief use of the historian's penetration...[is] to dig beneath appearance to reality." Gay reports that Gibbon imagined himself, like Tacitus, to be a philosophical historian. (Gibbon believed that "the philosopher is a man who has conquered prejudices and given the critical spirit free play.") With regard to style, Gibbon employed a large arsenal of literary device, and Gay praises him for using irony, observing that, in Gibbon's writing, "gravity and levity coexisted without strain." Gay describes as "stunning" the economy with which Ranke wrote and praises his gifts of "speed, color, variety, freshness of diction, and superb control." According to Gay, Ranke believed that "self-imposed discipline alone brings excellence to all art." For instance, the one-sentence paragraph was one of Ranke's trademarks. Ranke is often credited with being the father of "scientific history," but, as Gay notes, Ranke approached his craft "as a branch of the storytelling art." In championing scientific history, Ranke extolled "the systematizing of research, the withdrawal of ego from presentation, the unremitting effort of objectivity, the submission of results to critical public scrutiny." Indeed, according to Gay: "Ranke's contribution to historical science...lay in his exalted view of documents." Furthermore, Gay offers the insight that Ranke "recognized that history is a progressive discipline." Ranke claimed "his own work was superior to that of his predecessors," but he also recognized that his greatest achievements eventually would be superseded by more modern scholarship. In contrast to Ranke's economic style, Gay subtitles his chapter on Macaulay "Intellectual Voluptuary" (borrowing the phrase from Macaulay, himself). Gay reports that Macaulay has been criticized as "verbose, artificial, and overemphatic," and Gay acknowledges other faults including "rhetorical self-indulgence," and "a failure of restraint and of taste." But these criticisms did not prevent Macaulay from becoming a member of "England's intellectual aristocracy." According to Gay, expansiveness and anxiety were the "essential qualities that make up Macaulay's temper and inform Macaulay's style." In discussing Burckhardt, Gay notes that the "historian's choice of subject...is a deeply emotional affair." According to Gay, in Burckhardt's masterpiece, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, his "personal voice is...highly audible and wholly apologetic," and his judgments are "cool." Gay notes that The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy is a "work of diligent research and meticulous construction." Burckhardt's used irony sparingly in comparison with Gbbon, but Burckhardt's the section entitled "The State as a Work of Art," is, as Gay observes correctly, in fact "an animated chamber of horrors." For Burckhardt, Gay concludes: "Style...is the bridge to substance." To Burckhardt, according to Gay, poetry and history - as art and science - are "allies, almost inseparable twins."

This book is not, strictly speaking, comparative intellectual biography, but are there any similarities in the subjects of Gay's essays? Gay defines "modern times" as beginning in the 1890s, and, of the four historians whose style he studies, three - Gibbon, Ranke, and Macaulay - died in the pre-modern era, and Burckhardt survived only into its first decade. In addition, I must raise one additional issue: Gibbon, Macaulay, and Burckhardt were lifelong bachelors, and Ranke did not marry until he was 48. Are we to view this as mere coincidence? I don't think so. As the author of a superb biography of Sigmund Freud, I am surprised that Gay did not devote at least a few lines of insight, in addition to his remark that Gibbon sought to hide a "professional bachelor's conflicts," to the tantalizing fact that three of the four great historian-stylists he studies never married and the other was well into middle age when he did so. Gay clearly believes that style matters in the writing of history, but I believe at least one succinct rule is clear: When in doubt, leave the stylistic flourish out. This leads me to this point: I cannot recommend Gay more enthusiastically because he is both a great historian and a wonderful stylist, which is remarkable for the fact that German, not English, was his native language. As an introduction to his writings, I suggest Gay's My German Question : Growing Up in Nazi Berlin, in which moments of humor leaven penetrating personal recollections of coming of age early in the era of Hitler's tyranny. After Gay's memoirs, the general reader may want to tackle some of his scholarly books, such as the biographies of Mozart and Freud, his superb studies of the Enlightenment, or this wonderful book, Style in History. And a few may even be motivated to read (or re-read) Gibbon, Ranke, Macaulay, and Burckhardt.

The many glowing reviews given this book over the years are well-deserved. John Clive gives his readers a deep and rich picture of Macaulay. I agree with another Amazon.com reviewer of this book that a volume II by Clive -- a volume that details Macaulay's life from his return from India to his death -- would have been a fantastic addition to the literature.

My only real reservation about Clive's biography is his attempted psychoanalysis of Macaulay. I find Freudian explanations to be wholly fanciful. They don't work, in my view -- and this fact seems especially true in the case of Macaulay. Fortunately, Clive doesn't resort to psychoanalysis too much.

Again, overall this is a truly excellent biography.

John Clive's biography "Macaulay: The Shaping of the Historian" is one of the finest biographies of the last 30 years. Although Macaulay is not widely read today, he was a major essayist and influential historian -- Winston Churchill's prose style seems to have been greatly influenced by Macaulay. Clive's book takes Macaulay from his days as infant prodigy, learning foreign languages as a child and writing histories before he was a teenager, and ends as he is beginning to write his enormously popular "History of England." Macaulay was also an important figure in the passage of the First Reform Bill, which was the first major alteration in the British Constitution in hundreds of years, and set the country on the road to a truly democratice form of government. Clive provides a superb description of pre-Victorian England and of Macaulay, one of those amazing people of the 19th Century whose capacity for work seems to have been endless. I don't know if Clive ever intended to write a second volume that would have covered the rest of Macaulay's life, but in any event he died before doing so. However, we should be grateful for what we have here. For me, the book was so interesting that I purchased a copy of Macaulay's Collected Works from a used bookstore, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Clive's biography is a model of the genre; while well-researched, he does not overwhelm the reader with useless facts simply because he knows them, but rather concentrates on the key facts to bring Macaulay to life. You do not have to have read Macaulay to enjoy this book.

I have never seen a book better done than is this magnificent work. It tells of the earlyier life of Macaulay, from his birth on Oct 25, 1800 till the time he returned from India on June 1, 1838. How I wish there were a volume II! This book won my award for best book read in 1975, and after I read it I knew that it was a shoo-in winner for that award, even though I read in July of that year.

This book is a 500-odd page abridgement of Macaulay's magisterial History of England. T.B. Macaulay is one of the supreme victorian stylist, if not unquestionably the greatest. He is also one of the forefathers of modern liberalism. The prose is brilliant, and Macaulay has bettered his master, Scott, in his renderings of a bygone era. That much being said, we deplore the need to abridge this masterpiece. Five volumes might sound daunting, but Macaulay is entertaining enough to sustain our interest throughout the length of the book. The abridgements are so extensive that the introduction is reduced to 3 pages, and the recreation of the reign of King Charles II is entirely lost. Buy this book by all means, but if you can find the full version, give that a try. A wonderful companion to this book is Hume's History of England.

This was my first taste of Macaulay and I'm an aficianado! I was exhilirated by the accounts of English unanimity and activism in the face of a royal tyrant. I was refreshed by a volume of history that, for its honesty, scholarship and its spirit of freedom, was so unlike the many insipid, politically-correct, and poorly-argued texts of modern historians. I was inspired to read of an actual case of widespread resistance to arbitrary government which succeeded by its sheer tenacity employing, however, moderate and unfanatical means. I was enlightened by a view of the Highlander culture and Scottish scene generally(in the 70-odd pages of chapter 16) that had a very realistic feel to it and was a great antidote to the more fantastic intimations of the popular Mel Gibson movie regarding an earlier era in Scottish history. The descriptions of battles are detailed, interesting, and a needed reality check for those who have not experienced warfare and think of it as a big video game.

Although there was an unpleasant aspect of the book for me(Macaulay's views of Penn) that didn't quite ring true, this book is one of the truly classic histories of all time!

After Edward Gibbon there is no historian in the English language who can hold a candle to Macaulay. His prose is so luminous it practically glows in the dark. This abridgment focusing upon the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 sums up Macaulay's assesment of its events and meaning. Not a revolution for aristocrats only, but a revolution that increased and secured the liberties of all English people. Essential reading for all lovers of history.