This book brings together the articles of J.R. Dinwiddy to show both the coherence and importance of his contribution to British history in this period. His work covers the spectrum of political activity and thought from the Whigs to the Luddites and from Burke via Bentham to Marx.

This book brings together the articles of J.R. Dinwiddy to show both the coherence and importance of his contribution to British history in this period. His work covers the spectrum of political activity and thought from the Whigs to the Luddites and from Burke via Bentham to Marx.

This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of aspiration, to the 1830s - the era of the 'Reform Ministry' and of the Great Reform Act of 1832 - and beyond, when such aspirations were realized more frequently. It pays close attention to what contemporaries termed 'reform', identifying two strands, institutional and moral, which interacted in complex ways. Particular reforming initiatives singled out for attention include those targeting parliament, government, the law, the Church, medicine, slavery, regimens of self-care, opera, theatre, and art institutions, while later chapters situate British reform in its imperial and European contexts. An extended introduction provides a point of entry to the history and historiography of the period. The book will therefore stimulate fresh thinking about this formative period of British history.

The spectre of revolution and the nature of radicalism in Britain from the late eighteenth century through to the age of the Chartists has for some time engaged the interest of scholars and been the topic of much debate. This book honours one of the subject's most renowned and respected historians, Professor Malcolm I. Thomis. In a collection distinguished by its formidable range of contributors, a series of stimulating essays explores and re-examines the threats and ideas of revolution and the byzantine networks and character of British radical culture in the turbulent and intriguing years between 1775 and 1848.

'Those who were originally called radicals and afterwards reformers, are called Chartists', declared Thomas Duncombe before Parliament in 1842, a comment which can be adapted for a later period and as a description of this collection of papers: 'those who were originally called Chartists were afterwards called Liberal and Labour activists'. In other words, the central argument of this book is that there was a substantial continuity in popular radicalism throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century. The papers stress both the popular elements in Gladstonian Liberalism and the radical liberal elements in the early Labour party. The first part of the book focuses on the continuity of popular attitudes across the commonly-assumed mid-century divide, with studies of significant personalities and movements, as well as a local case study. The second part examines the strong links between Gladstonian Liberalism and the working classes, looking in particular at labour law, taxation, and the Irish crisis. The final part assesses the impact of radical traditions on early Labour politics, in Parliament, the unions, and local government. The same attitudes towards liberty, the rule of law, and local democracy are highlighted throughout, and new questions are therefore posed about the major transitions in the popular politics of the period.

The Rise and Fall of Radical Westminster, 1780-1890 explores a critical chapter in the story of Britain's transition to democracy. Utilising the remarkably rich documentation generated by Westminster elections, Baer reveals how the most radical political space in the age of oligarchy became the most conservative and tranquil in an age of democracy.

This book is a history of the emergence and development of the concept of proportional representation and its relation to political theory within the context of nineteenth-century British party politics focusing on Thomas Hare (1806-1891).

Jonathan Sperber’s Revolutionary Europe 1780–1850 is a history of Europe in the age of the French Revolution, from the end of the old regime to the outcome of the revolutions of 1848. Fully revised and updated, this second edition provides a continent-wide history of the key political events and social transformation that took place within this turbulent period, extending as far as their effects within the European colonial society of the Caribbean. Key features include analyses of the movement from society’s old regime of orders to a civil society of property owners; the varied consequences of rapid population increase and the spread of market relations in the economy; and the upshot of these changes for political life, from violent revolutions and warfare to dramatic reforms and peaceful mass movements a lively account of the events of the period and a thorough analysis of the political, cultural and socioeconomic transformations that shaped them a look into the lives of ordinary people amidst the social and economic developments of the time a range of maps depicting the developments in Europe’s geographic scope between 1789 and 1848, including for the 1820, 1830 and 1848 revolutions. Revolutionary Europe 1780–1850 is the perfect introduction for students of the history of the French Revolution and the history of Europe more broadly.

A major new history of the Royal Navy during the tumultuous age of revolution The French Revolutionary Wars catapulted Britain into a conflict against a new enemy: Republican France. Britain relied on the Royal Navy to protect its shores and empire, but as radical ideas about rights and liberty spread across the globe, it could not prevent the spirit of revolution from reaching its ships. In this insightful history, James Davey tells the story of Britain's Royal Navy across the turbulent 1790s. As resistance and rebellion swept through the fleets, the navy itself became a political battleground. This was a conflict fought for principles as well as power. Sailors organized riots, strikes, petitions, and mutinies to achieve their goals. These shocking events dominated public discussion, prompting cynical--and sometimes brutal--responses from the government. Tempest uncovers the voices of ordinary sailors to shed new light on Britain's war with France, as the age of revolution played out at every level of society.

Providing a continent-wide history, this major survey covers the key political events of this turbulent period. Jonathan Sperber also looks at lives of ordinary people and considers broad social and economic developments. In particular he examines the relationships between the different revolutionary movements, showing how the French Revolution of 1789 set patterns which recurred over the following sixty years.