The Pamphleteers
Subtitle: The Birth of Journalism
Publisher: Information Architects (IA)
Published: September 2010
Place of publication: UK
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 176
ISBN-13: 9780955183454
Subjects: pamphlets, early journalists,  biography
First sentence: THE ORIGIN of the word pamphlet has its roots with a form of Latin love poem, popular in the twelfth century: pamphilit, which is thought to derive from Pan as the Greek god of the pasture (paein), a chaser of nymphs, with the diminutive tail lit as the agency of transmission for this passion in the form of verse.
Description: The Pamphleteers is an investigation of the early journalism. In an era long before the advent of the periodical press, the pamphleteers were the world’s proto-journalists. 

As a paper platform for a spectrum of religious fanatics, eccentrics, social reporters, and satirists, the pamphlet evolved as a weapon of propaganda (forged between the fledgling press and Star Chamber censorship) for powerful vested interest groups, political parties, governments - and revolutionists. 
          
The Gutenberg revolution of the Renaissance provided the spark and the Reformation of the sixteenth century the explosive fuel for the pamphleteering phenomenon. 

As the pamphlet form took root, then so English prose emerged from its antique form with an extraordinary rash of stylistic innovations to embrace such unlikely postures as subversive fulmination, cod polemic, ferocious satire, and manifesto. In times of religious ferment, civil war, colonial unrest and revolution, such texts - risky or even dangerous to publish - were often the product of secret presses and anonymous authors. 

At the other exposure, there were those who encountered that risk - and found notoriety or lasting fame along the way. In the hands of a select few, the pamphlet reached a level of high achievement beyond any ordinary Grub Street reckoning. 

As a special focus, the narrative reveals how the early journalists were driven not so much by scandal and sensationalism at home and abroad but by major historical events on the world stage: the Reformation, the English Revolution, the Seven Years War, and the War of the Spanish Succession, and the revolutions in America and in France. Along this mighty timeline, these were the great political tides that led to the birth of journalism, the periodical press, and the emergence of the fourth estate. 

In this brief survey, the author also includes vignettes on seven pamphleteers: Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Thomas Dekker, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and culminating with Tom Paine in Paris. 

The Pamphleteers is itself a pamphlet for the digital age. 

THE AUTHOR 

James A. Oliver is an international writer, editor, and occasional journalist. He is the author of A Footprint in the Sand, an epic political comedy inspired by the end of the Cold War, and The Anarchist’s Arms, a play set in near-future London.

In 2006, The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st Century Frontier was published worldwide. 

From 2007-2009, he lived in Paris on the Ile Saint Louis, while working on the script of The Pamphleteers, among other projects. 

James Oliver is presently based at a remote location for his research on The Gibraltar Affair: A Special Report from the Rock. 

He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
Table of contents: title: Timeline; title: Overview; title: Origins and Themes; title: Gutenberg and Caxton; title: Pamphlet or Essay?; title: Schism and Reformation; title: Infamous Papers; title: Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe,; title: & the Early Journalism; title: The Marprelate Controversy; title: Interlude; title: The English Revolution; title: The Star Chamber and Censorship; title: The Levellers; title: The Restoration & the; title: Emergence of the Press; title: Satire; title: Enlightenment and Revolution; title: The Fourth Estate; title: The Pamphleteers; title: A Herring for Robert Greene; title: An Almond for Thomas Nashe; title: Thomas Dekker at the Mermaid Tavern; title: John Milton and the Areopagitica; title: Daniel Defoe at the Coffee House; title: Jonathan Swift and the Remote Regions; title: Tom Paine, Revolutionist; title: Bibliography; title: Information & links; title: Index   159