Title: A radical history of Britain : visionaries, rebels and revolutionaries - the men and women who fought for our freedoms /
Authors: Vallance, Edward, 1975-
Publisher: Little, Brown,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Libertarianism Great Britain History.; Radicalism Great Britain History; Revolutionaries Great Britain History.; Great Britain Politics and government.
Abstract: "From medieval Runnymede to twentieth-century Jarrow, from King Alfred to George Orwell by way of John Lilburne and Mary Wollstonecraft, a rich and colourful thread of radicalism runs through a thousand years of British history. In this fascinating study, Edward Vallance traces a national tendency towards revolution, irreverence and reform wherever it surfaces and in all its variety. For the first time in one volume, Vallance unveils the British yeomen and preachers, millworkers, poets, miners and intellectuals who fought and died for religious freedom, universal suffrage, justice and liberty - and shows why, now more than ever, their heroic achievements must be recognized and celebrated."--Jacket.
Contents: Introduction. The First British Radical, Alfred the Great -- pt. 1. The Talisman of Liberty -- 1. The Great Charter -- pt. 2. When Adam Delved and Even Span -- 2. The Peasants' Revolt -- 3. Jack Cade's Rebellion -- 4. The 'Commotion Time' -- pt. 3. 'The Poorest He ... The Greatest He': Radicalism in the English Revolution -- 5. The Roots of Civil War Radicalism: The Revolution before the Revolution -- 6. All Commanded and Yet Were under Command' -- 7. The Earth a Common Treasury -- pt. 4. The Age of Paine: British Radicals and the French Revolution -- 8. Wilkes, Paine, and 'Liberty Restored' -- 9. The Rights of Man, The Rights of Woman, and Political Justice -- 10. The Reign of Terror -- pt. 5. The Mask of Anarchy: Radicalism from Waterloo to the Great Reform Act -- 11. A Rope of Sand -- 12. King Ludd -- 13. Peterloo -- 14. The Cato Street Conspiracy and the Battle for Reform -- pt. 6. A Knife-and-Fork Question? The Rise and Fall of Chartism -- 15. The Tolpuddle Martyrs and the People's Charter -- 16. The Newport Rising -- Chartism Reinvigorated -- 17. The Land Plan, O'Connor and the Legacy of Chartism -- pt. 7. The Bloodless Revolution -- 18. The Pankhursts, the Suffrage Movement and Socialism -- 19. Deeds Not Words -- 20. 'It is No Longer a Movement, It Is a Whirlwind' -- 21. The Spectacular Pageant Draws to a Close -- 22. The Fight against Fascism.