Recent reading
Jun. 3rd, 2020 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaGah, the state of the world. /o\ Well, I am somewhat avoiding the news, but I did realize that I haven't donated money in a while, so I donated fairly large chunks of money to International Planned Parenthood, UNHCR, and the Rainforest Trust. I am still doing volunteer work, but not as much of it as before my new fandom obsession--I am concentrating on internal board work in my environmental organization, since it seems to be the thing that everybody else hates and that I don't mind and am good at. And in my union, I call new members and hold introductory meetings for them once a month (now online, of course).
The Jacobite Risings in Britain 1689-1746 by Bruce Lenman (1980)
You might wonder whether I have not read enough yet about a historical conflict where I sympathize politically with neither of the sides, but apparently not! Of course it's because of my fannishness about Flight of the Heron, but also I suppose many things just become more interesting the more you read about them. This book is pretty great, actually!
Lenman is often very snarky, which makes it fun to read. Sometimes he makes snap judgments about people without really justifying why, which can annoy me, but his snark is at its best when he aims it at social structures or people in power. An example: "The jobbery and pressures used to expedite the progress of the Treaty [of Union with England in 1707] through the Scots parliament would appear to have been little different from the behavior which was standard government practice in the 18th century. It was perhaps neither less nor more reputable then the practices of government in late 20th century Britain, another patronage-ridden society." This one is also pretty great: "All governments are always convinced that mass opposition to their policies is the result of fiendish machinations by 'extremist' agitators, but Wade's fit of jitters was silly even on the evidence of his own letters."
I guess I knew this already, but I am struck by how much less control the state had in the 18th century compared to now! For example, the government in London tried to make much of Scotland's trading illegal, but it was really impossible for them to stop the smuggling. On another economic issue, it's interesting that the Hanoverian government in the first half of the 18th century lowered progressive taxes and raised regressive ones (much as the Swedish government has done in the last 30 years, heh), while still managing to convince the general populace that the poor oppressed French had it worse, tax-wise, which in fact was not the case.
Besides giving general depth and background for fic writing (which is very useful!), I have also gleaned some more specific useful things. For example, the colonel of Keith's regiment, James St Clair, came from one of the many Scottish families who hedged their bets: he himself served the Hanoverian government, but his father and brother were attainted in the '15, and they only kept the estate in the family by signing it over to him, probably with backdated documents. Which makes me wonder what he would do if the war went the other way.
The Jacobite Risings in Britain 1689-1746 by Bruce Lenman (1980)
You might wonder whether I have not read enough yet about a historical conflict where I sympathize politically with neither of the sides, but apparently not! Of course it's because of my fannishness about Flight of the Heron, but also I suppose many things just become more interesting the more you read about them. This book is pretty great, actually!
Lenman is often very snarky, which makes it fun to read. Sometimes he makes snap judgments about people without really justifying why, which can annoy me, but his snark is at its best when he aims it at social structures or people in power. An example: "The jobbery and pressures used to expedite the progress of the Treaty [of Union with England in 1707] through the Scots parliament would appear to have been little different from the behavior which was standard government practice in the 18th century. It was perhaps neither less nor more reputable then the practices of government in late 20th century Britain, another patronage-ridden society." This one is also pretty great: "All governments are always convinced that mass opposition to their policies is the result of fiendish machinations by 'extremist' agitators, but Wade's fit of jitters was silly even on the evidence of his own letters."
I guess I knew this already, but I am struck by how much less control the state had in the 18th century compared to now! For example, the government in London tried to make much of Scotland's trading illegal, but it was really impossible for them to stop the smuggling. On another economic issue, it's interesting that the Hanoverian government in the first half of the 18th century lowered progressive taxes and raised regressive ones (much as the Swedish government has done in the last 30 years, heh), while still managing to convince the general populace that the poor oppressed French had it worse, tax-wise, which in fact was not the case.
Besides giving general depth and background for fic writing (which is very useful!), I have also gleaned some more specific useful things. For example, the colonel of Keith's regiment, James St Clair, came from one of the many Scottish families who hedged their bets: he himself served the Hanoverian government, but his father and brother were attainted in the '15, and they only kept the estate in the family by signing it over to him, probably with backdated documents. Which makes me wonder what he would do if the war went the other way.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-03 08:21 pm (UTC)Also impressed by your English skills: today I looked up “attaint” and “jobbery” in my thick dictionary.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-03 09:11 pm (UTC)In fact I too had to look up jobbery, but attaint and attainder is such a common word in this fandom/historical period that I'm used to it.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-03 09:21 pm (UTC)I want to resurrect attaint and attainder for the current moment — they have an impressive legalistic heft to them.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-03 09:35 pm (UTC)Hmm, well, a dictionary defines it as "extinction of the civil rights and capacities of a person upon sentence of death or outlawry usually after a conviction of treason". Maybe we should not extinguish people's civil rights? : )
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-04 03:51 am (UTC)I guess I knew this already, but I am struck by how much less control the state had in the 18th century compared to now!
Yeah—one of the things that strikes me about the period in general is how much wilder, I suppose, the world seems when you haven't got the sort of wide-ranging information and technology we take for granted now. Smugglers can keep smuggling with impunity (in Scotland but also in Kent, which is effectively on London's doorstep today), the Jacobite army can march halfway into England without the government ever managing to keep track of exactly where they are. It certainly makes for exciting history!
And that is very interesting about St Clair! I have wondered if Keith's dad's friend John Keith might not have been in a similar sort of position—the Keiths were a Jacobite family (the leader of the '19 was one, IIRC), but he seems to have fought for the Hanoverians. Would be some interesting potential in that, if so...
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-04 05:20 pm (UTC)I have wondered if Keith's dad's friend John Keith might not have been in a similar sort of position—the Keiths were a Jacobite family (the leader of the '19 was one, IIRC), but he seems to have fought for the Hanoverians. Would be some interesting potential in that, if so...
Oh, you're right--interesting. I have a family backstory fic in the back of my head, and I will keep this in mind...
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-04 07:22 pm (UTC)the Kent and Sussex smugglers are going to come into my current fic, too! They had planned to guide the French if they managed to invade.
Oh, yes, of course they had—this sounds good!
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-05 09:49 pm (UTC)At one point I was thinking, what if the site of the French landing was changed at the last minute? It took me a little while to realise that that made absolutely no sense, because of course there would be no way to convey that info to the right people in time :D
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-06 11:48 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-04 11:23 am (UTC)That's really interesting about St Clair. I can quite see why personal honour was such a big thing at the time, and why everyone was so touchy about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-04 05:24 pm (UTC)To be fair, Broster does also show some of the flaws of both sides.