The Execution of Admiral John Byng as a Microhistory of Eighteenth-Century Britain

This microhistorical account examines the 1757 execution of Admiral John Byng, providing a revisionist and detailed account of a dark chapter in British naval history. It explores Britain's cultural, social, and political landscape during the Seven Years' War, focusing on ballad, newspaper, prize culture, social factors, and the politics behind Byng's trial and execution.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 278 pages
Publication date: 19 December 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

According to Voltaire's "Candide," Admiral John Byng's execution in 1757 was intended to inspire others. Of course, the story is more complicated. This microhistorical account upon a macro-event presents an updated, revisionist, and detailed account of a dark chapter in British naval history. Asking, "What was Britain like the moment Byng returned to Portsmouth after the Battle of Minorca (1756)?" not only returns a glimpse of mid-eighteenth-century Britain but provides a deeper understanding of how a wartime admiral, the son of a peer, of some wealth, a once colonial governor, and sitting member of parliament came to be scapegoated and then executed for the failings of others. This manuscript presents a cultural, social, and political dive into Britain at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. Part 1 focuses on ballad, newspaper, and prize culture. Part 2 makes a turn towards the social, where religion, morality, rioting, and disease play into the Byng saga. Admiral Byng's record during the 1755 Channel Campaign is explored, as is the Mediterranean context of the Seven Years' War, troubles elsewhere in the empire, and then the politics behind Byng's trial and execution.

Weight: 426g
Dimension: 151 x 228 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367767594