A History of Our Own Times was published in four volumes by Chatto & Windus between 1879 and 1897 (with supplementary volumes extending the narrative through the 1890s). McCarthy — an Irish journalist, novelist, and politician who served as an MP for Longford — wrote the kind of popular history that Victorian readers loved: narrative-driven, personality-centered, and opinionated, bringing the same literary skills to history that he deployed in his novels and journalism.
The work covers British political history from Victoria’s accession in 1837 through the major events of the mid-Victorian era: the Chartist movement, the repeal of the Corn Laws, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Reform Bills, Gladstone’s and Disraeli’s rivalry, Irish Home Rule, and the expansion of empire. McCarthy writes as a participant-observer — he knew many of the political figures he describes, sat in Parliament himself, and brings an insider’s understanding of how political maneuvering actually works.
McCarthy’s liberalism is openly declared: he admires Gladstone, distrusts Disraeli (while acknowledging his genius), supports Irish Home Rule, and believes in the progress of democratic reform. This partisanship gives the work energy and conviction but limits its analytical depth — McCarthy is more advocate than analyst, more journalist than historian.
The books were enormously popular in their time — going through dozens of editions and printings — and represented for a generation of readers the accessible narrative history of their own era.
Collecting A History of Our Own Times
First edition (Chatto & Windus, London, 1879–1897): Four volumes, cloth binding.
Market values:
- Complete first edition set: $60–$150
- Individual volumes: $10–$30
- Later single-volume abridgements: $5–$15