The English and Their History

By Robert Tombs

Decent overall… Bailed roughtly half way through.. Not

"To the Whigs we owe the principle that rulers must obey the law and that legitimate authority requires the consent of the people. From the Tories came the principle that people have no right to rebel against a government because they disagree with it. Combining these conflicting principles produced characteristics of English political culture: suspicion of Utopias and zealots; trust in common sense and experience; respect for tradition; preference for gradual change; and the view that "compromise" is victory, not betrayal. These things stem from the failure both of royal absolutism and of godly republicanism: costly failures and fruitful ones."

"The "Founding Fathers" were impatient with London not because it was too imperialist, but because it was not imperialist enough."

• England wanted relative peace with the natives, whereas the colonists wanted agressive expansion into native territories.