Originally published in 1976, this book traces the development of the early parliamentary parties from the Revolution of 1688-9 to the fall of Walpole. The author maintains that the Tory and Whig parties dominated politics during this period and that their conflict ‘became so ingrained in the practice of politics that the mid-eighteenth-century lapse into multifactional strife proved partial and transient.’ The 50 years after the Revolution was a crucial time in the development of parliamentary institutions. This well-reviewed book was the first study of both Whigs and Tories over this extended period and filled an important gap in the available literature.