Politics, Finance, and the People

This book traces the changes in the organization of the British economy following the War of American Independence, which unleashed a political crisis in Britain based on demands for 'economical reform'. In 1782, failure in the American war led to the fall of the ministry of Lord North and administrative reforms intended to reduce 'the influence of the Crown'. Economical reform took a new direction when a Commission for Accounts issued fifteen reports identifying reforms of finance and administration that were partially implemented by 1788.

EARL REITAN is Professor of History Emeritus at Ilinois State University, USA. He is co-author of English Heritage (1988) and author of Politics, War and Empire: the Rise of Britain to a World Power, 1688-1792 (1994), The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979-2001 (2003), and a series of articles on the Civil List in Eighteenth-century British politics.