A Short History Of Standing Armies In England

Can a nation stay free while soldiers answer only to the Crown? The warning still feels urgent. First published at the close of the seventeenth century, John Trenchard’s A Short History Of Standing Armies In England is a classic political pamphlet that traces how permanent military forces have again and again threatened civil liberties in England. Writing from late seventeenth century England, in the unsettled years of post Glorious Revolution England, Trenchard surveys earlier reigns to show how standing armies and liberty sit uneasily together, and how easily military power and tyranny can march side by side. Steeped in the same currents as John Locke political philosophy and later echoed in the Cato Letters classic essays, it remains an accessible English constitutional history book and a vivid historical primary source text. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions, this work has been restored for today’s and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector’s item and a cultural treasure. Ideal for political theory students seeking the roots of liberal thought and as a reference for military historians studying the politics of force, it also rewards general readers who enjoy brisk, pointed argument about power and responsibility. For collectors of classic political writing and students of civil liberties in England, this compact treatise offers both an engaging read and a durable point of reference in debates over army, monarchy and the state.