The British historical novel has often been defined in the terms set by Walter Scott's fiction, as a reflection on a clear break between past and present. Reinventing Liberty challenges this view by returning us to the rich range of historical novels written in the late eighteenth century. It explores how these works participated in a contentious debate concerning political change and British national identity. Ranging across well-known writers, such as William Godwin, Horace Walpole and Frances Burney, to lesser-known figures, including Cornelia Ellis Knight and Jane Porter, Reinventing Liberty reveals how history becomes a site to rethink Britain as a 'land of liberty' and positions Scott in relation to this tradition.