The History of England

In this inaugural lecture as Regius Professor, G. R. Elton enters a plea for the study of continuous history, through long stretches of time, especially for university students, on the grounds that a course consisting only of a large number of highly specialised bits of history fails to give the student the necessary sense of a past extending far back and providing important points for an understanding of development and relationship. More particularly, it calls for the study of English history at English universities. It calls in doubt prevailing views, which regard the history of England as no longer worthy of careful attention because the British Empire has gone, and emphasises the special virtue of studying the history of a country which has always been different and frequently successful.