His first degree (BA) was from the University of Oxford (1966) and his PhD was from the University of Warwick (1970). His specialist research interests included: British political history since the eighteenth century; the history of social policy; how social change affects the political process; British national identities.[3]
More recent publications included The Shaping of Modern Britain, 1780–1914 (Pearson Longman, 2011), Sir Robert Peel, Statesmanship Power and Party (2nd ed., 2006) and The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain 1783–1870 (3rd ed., Longman, 2001). He was also interested in curriculum development and assessment. He was Chief Examiner and Chair of Examiners in History for each of the three major English GCSE and A-level Awarding Bodies. He was Chair of the History Postgraduate Awards Panel of the Arts and Humanities Research Board from 2000 to 2005.
Evans, E.J. (1976), The Contentious Tithe: The Tithe Problem and English Agriculture 1750–1850, Studies in Economic History (1st; 2nd, 2017 ed.), London: Routledge, ISBN9780710083241
Evans, E.J. (1976), Tithes and the Tithe Commutation Act, 1836, London: Bedford Square Press, ISBN9780719909351
Evans, E.J. (1978), Social Policy, 1830–1914: Individualism, Collectivism, and the Origins of the Welfare State, London: Routledge, ISBN978-1138698055
Evans, Eric J. (1983), The Forging of the Modern State: Early Industrial Britain, 1783–1870, Foundations of Modern Britain (1st; 2nd, 1996; 3rd, 2001 ed.), London: Pearson Longman, ISBN978-0-582-47267-9
Evans, Eric J. (1985), Political Parties in Britain, 1783–1867, Lancaster Pamphlets (1st ed.), London: Routledge, ISBN9780416374001
Evans, Eric J. (1991), Sir Robert Peel: Statesmanship, Power and Party, Lancaster Pamphlets (1st; 2nd, 2006 ed.), London: Routledge, ISBN978-0-415-36616-8