John Lingard and the Pursuit of Historical Truth

John Lingard (1771-1851) is too little known to English readers. This book describes how he postulated and applied for the first time in England, the main principles and methodology of modern source criticism in his History of England (1819-30). His work is compared and contrasted with other English historians - predecessors, contemporaries and successors. Edwin Jones reveals the extent to which he was the unacknowledged father of the modern revisionist movement in English historical writing. Lingard broke free from his contemporary culture and created a methodology of scientific source criticism which he applied to original materials covering all aspects of English history up to 1688. Thereby he created the conditions in which historical writing could become an independent discipline, concerning itself primarily with the pursuit and exposition of the truth about the past, in stark contrast with more celebrated English historians who saw history as a branch of philosophy or fine literature. Based on an intensive study of Lingard's work, this book challenges the view that there was nothing in England during the nineteenth century to compare with the scientific advances in historiography on the Continent. At the 150th anniversary of Lingard's death, Edwin Jones's study is a long overdue tribute to the work of a truly great English historian.