Historical Studies of the English Parliament, in Two Volumes: Origins to 1399; 1399 to 1603

xii, 387; xii, 350 pp. From back cover: 'A great deal of the literature which has been devoted to the problems of English parliamentary history from the Middle Ages to the present day is in the form of essays in journals and periodicals, which are only available in specialist libraries. These essays, moreover, in many instances represent crucial stages in reinterpreting the evidence for the development of Parliament and notable advances in our knowledge of it. To bring some of the more important of them together, therefore, is a guide to the new thinking on this topic during recent decades. These essays chart the evolution of Parliament as an institution which gradually acquired a definite composition and expanded capacities; and many of them trace the process by which the Commons became not only an indispensable element in Parliament but also a political force in English life. The introduction and bibliography place the essays reprinted here in the context of recent literature on English parliamentary and political history.'