First published in 1982, Augustan England provides ample substance to reinforce the thesis that the years from 1680 to 1730 mark the most decisive stage in the rise of the English professional classes before the 19th century, and that this had profound consequences in maintaining the relative ‘openness’ of 18th century society until the advent of industrialization.
This book provides the first ever authoritative study of the professions, as a whole, before the Victorian age. The spectacular growth and prosperity of the professional sector of English society at a time when population growth was minimal is seen by Professor Holmes as a mirror of the transformation of England herself in these same years. The Augustan age was one of high English achievement in many fields, from the flowering of literary genius to the acquisition of a sophisticated financial system and the attainment of Great Power status through two consuming wars. It witnessed a ‘commercial revolution’ and important aesthetic, cultural and scientific advances, many of them centered on the growth of London and on a rejuvenation of provincial urban life. From all these developments the professions derived stimuli; on all of them they left their distinctive stamp. In this study, therefore, they are presented not merely as institutions but as an integral part of the very texture of Augustan England. This is a must read for students and scholars of British history.