The History of Greece

This vast study, first published between 1784 and 1818, and written on an unprecedentedly large historical scale, was begun at the urging of the author's friend Edward Gibbon. William Mitford (1744–1827), a scholar, a magistrate and an MP, was concerned for the preservation of national and military stability, and he in part used his work to draw parallels between the rise of Athenian democracy and the contemporary status of the British constitution. This stance drew some criticism initially...