We begin this week with Advancing Empire: English Interests and Overseas Expansion, 1613-1688 by L. H. Roper.
David Hope and the author discuss an accomplished book that has much to offer those interested in state formation, political economy, overseas trade, and the development of the English/British Empire (no. 2246, with response here).
Then we turn to Rodger Braithwaite’s Armageddon and Paranoia: The Nuclear Confrontation.
Despite some lapses in detail, Mattias Eken believes this is still a very good work which provides a clear and accessible analysis of the key themes concerning nuclear weapons (no. 2245).
Next up is Malleable Anatomies: Models, Makers and Material Culture in Eighteenth-Century Italy by Lucia Dacome.
Kathryn Woods enjoys a wonderfully illustrated and intricate history of the ‘diversified’ world of mid-18th century Italian anatomy (no. 2244).
Finally we have Kenneth D. Brown’s The Unknown Gladstone: The Political Life of Herbert Gladstone, 1854-1930.
Iain Sharpe finds this to be a missed opportunity to make a greater contribution to the historiography of Liberal politics (no. 2243).