Ideology and Partiality in David Hume's History of England

Since its publication in 1754-62, critical assessments of David Hume's History of England can be broadly divided into three phases. During Hume's lifetime the history was, on the whole, favorably received. It is true the first volume, treating the early Stuarts, met initially with a cold reception. The London booksellers, resentful of the History's Scottish publishers, waged a successful campaign to stifle its commercial success. And the sympathetic portrait which Hume drew of the Stuarts… CONTINUE READING