Books in Brief: Maryland’s Revolution of Government, 1689-1692

Maryland’s Revolution of Government, 1689-1692, by Lois Green Carr and David William Jordan (Cornell, 321 pp., $15).

Historians, an historian once told me, don’t so much read books as use them. Maryland’s Revolution of Government is definitely a book to be used rather than read, with its exhaustive research— the authors, sponsored by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission and St. Mary’s City Commission, have pored through stacks of records in Maryland and London, and offer much material that has never before appeared in book form— and turgid prose. Not that there aren’t some insights of interest to the layman. For example, schoolchildren are still being told that Maryland was a haven from religious strife; in fact, there were Protestant rebellions throughout Maryland’s history, and the Catholic proprietor, Lord Baltimore, was finally overthrown by the Protestants. There is also a useful lesson here about over-centralized government: one reason Maryland was able to survive this revolution was that she had strong, stable local governments. Unfortunately, the bad writing and the wealth of detail necessary for the authors’ and sponsors’ purpose unfit the book for all but the most dedicated general readers.

About the Author

Linda Bridges

Ms. Bridges is the former editor-at-large of National Review.

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Maryland’s Revolution of Government, 1689-1692, by Lois Green Carr and David William Jordan (Cornell, 321 pp., $15).

Historians, an historian once told me, don’t so much read books as use them. Maryland’s Revolution of Government is definitely a book to be used rather than read, with its exhaustive research— the authors, sponsored by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission and St. Mary’s City Commission, have pored through stacks of records in Maryland and London, and offer much material that has never before appeared in book form— and turgid prose. Not that there aren’t some insights of interest to the layman. For example, schoolchildren are still being told that Maryland was a haven from religious strife; in fact, there were Protestant rebellions throughout Maryland’s history, and the Catholic proprietor, Lord Baltimore, was finally overthrown by the Protestants. There is also a useful lesson here about over-centralized government: one reason Maryland was able to survive this revolution was that she had strong, stable local governments. Unfortunately, the bad writing and the wealth of detail necessary for the authors’ and sponsors’ purpose unfit the book for all but the most dedicated general readers.