Works

Retrospection

Retrospection: or a Review of the Most Striking and Important Events, Characters, Situations and their Consequences, which the last Eighteen Hundred Years have Presented to the View of Mankind was Hester Lynch Piozzi's final major literary work, published in two quarto volumes by T. Cadell, Junior, and W. Davies in London in 1801.

Covering the first eighteen centuries of the Christian era in a sweeping, narrative-driven chronicle from the birth of Christ to the year 1800, the book drew upon ancient sources such as Livy and the Bible alongside modern historians like Gibbon and Hume. Written in Piozzi's characteristic breezy and informal style, Retrospection represented an experimental and daring attempt to popularise world history for a general readership, free from the genre's traditional stuffiness.

Despite its innovative approach and the author's ambition—evidenced by her request for a £1,000 advance in anticipation of the new century's commercial appeal—the work met with critical drubbing and attracted scant public attention, marking a disappointing close to Piozzi's prolific career. Modern scholars, however, have reevaluated Retrospection as a pioneering effort: the first world history penned by a British woman, and a bold fusion of philosophical insight with accessible storytelling.