1688: A Global History. - Review - book review

1688: A Global History. John E. Wills. Granta Books. [pound]20.00. 330 pages. ISBN 1-86207-413-5. Historians are always trying to find 'angles' from which to write about events already the subject of numerous other books. The Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which the Catholic King, James II, fled England to be replaced by the Protestant William III and Mary, is no exception. In this book, the author, a professor of history in the University of Southern California, writes not about the events in England in 1688, but in various parts of the world: hence the sub-title, a 'global history'. He writes not just about events in one year but on one day and he admits that this somewhat rigid format has led to 'certain omissions and over-representations'. He covers events in Japan, Russia, France, Mexico, North America, Australia and Siam. The author is good at description and does give readers an unusual glimpse of history as a collection of snap-shots. Whether this is really history is another question but it does ope n up a new field of endeavour for our rapidly increasing number of academics anxious to be published.

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