The Formation of the British State: England, Scotland, and the Union, 1603-1707

Between the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the Union of Parliaments in 1707, numerous proposals were made to strengthen relations between England and Scotland. Here, Brian P. Levack draws on a large body of pamphlet literature, state papers, and parliamentary records to explore the 17th- and early 18th-century schemes to unite the political, legal, religious, economic, and social elements of the two countries. An important contribution to English and Scottish history, The Formation of the British State sheds new light on how the British state acquired many of the features it still posseses today, and why it differed significantly from both the English and the Scottish states out of which it was formed.