The decision to replace the Pelican History of England with a new series under the fresh title A Pen- guin History of Britain neatly captured the flavour of the 1990s, when many English historians became conscious that England's is not a self-contained story and that much of it can be intelligibly explained only with reference to events in Scotland and Ireland. Enthusiasts envisaged a project for the construction of an inclusive narrative in which the individual histories of the three countries would be submerged in an interwoven treatment of the common history of the archipelago. Cynics diagnosed a new form of imperialism in which English historians would appropriate bits of other peoples' pasts to produce an enriched version of the history of England. Practical men and women negotiated contracts and set about reading Scottish and Irish history.
Dr Brigden falls half-heartedly into the last category. She has more than sampled the Irish literature, makes dutiful reference to the Irish exception to most of her generalisations and recounts the episodes of the Tudor conquest with a fashionable air of disapproval. But she neither provides a connected account of Ireland in the period, nor fulfils the dust jacket's promise to show "the critical role it played in determining English affairs". The treatment of Ireland is more extensive and better informed than has been customary, but this is not "British" history.
It's not hard to see why this is so. Dr Brigden's view of the Tudor century is old-fashioned. Her focus is on high politics and religion. The new and lost worlds of the title, give or take a few rhetorical flourishes, reduce to Protestantism and Catholicism. What is new in this retelling of an old tale is that religion is not presented as high politics. The substance of religious belief itself is presented as the dynamic force. The Reformation was energised by the desire "to find out what church is the very church", and concerns about the Real Presence and the way to salvation were more important than Henry VIII's quest for a male heir. This thesis is persuasively argued and interestingly couched.
Dr Brigden writes for an audience that is wholly uninformed. Where her predecessors took it for granted that their readers would be familiar with the Eucharist, the sacraments and the broad outlines of the doctrine of grace, Dr Brigden assumes total ignorance. The clarity and care with which theological and liturgical issues are explained make this an excellent introduction to the Reformation for post-Christian readers. As such, it is welcome because it is necessary.
Aidan Clarke is Erasmus Smith's Professor of History at Trinity College, Dublin. A paperback reprint of his first book, The Old English in Ireland, 1625-42, has just been published