Radicalism and revolution in Britain, 1775-1848 : essays in honour of Malcolm I. Thomis

Britain has a long tradition of radicalism and this tradition has been the topic of much interest to and much debate amongst scholars. In a volume which honours one of the subject's most renowned and respected historians, Malcolm I. Thomis, a distinguished team of contributors present fresh and inspiring essays which focus on some of the events, people and ideas which shaped the currents of radicalism in the turbulent years now appropriately described as the 'age of romanticism and revolution'. British political history in recent years has taken a so-called 'linguistic turn' and this collection reflects that trend in exploring the networks and culture of radical enthusiasm from the time of the American Revolution to the period of Chartist activity, thus ensuring the value of this book for literary scholars and historians of all levels. Front Matter....Pages i-xv ‘The Friends of America’: British Sympathy with the American Revolution....Pages 1-29 Two Doubting Thomases: the British Progressive Enlightenment and the French Revolution....Pages 30-40 The Political Showman at Home: Reflections on Popular Radicalism and Print Culture in the 1790s....Pages 41-55 The Pop-Gun Plot, 1794....Pages 56-68 John Thelwall’s Political Ambivalence: Reform and Revolution....Pages 69-83 Wondering about Wonders: Paine, Constâncio and The Age of Reason, 1794–97....Pages 84-95 The United Irishmen and the Politics of Banishment, 1798–1807....Pages 96-109 ‘Good for the Public Example’: Daniel Isaac Eaton, Prosecution, Punishment and Recognition, 1793–1812....Pages 110-132 A Loyal Englishman?: John Lloyd and Aspects of Oath-taking in 1812....Pages 133-142 Spreading the Radical Word: The Circulation of William Hone’s 1817 Liturgical Parodies....Pages 143-156 Political Economy and Popular Education: Thomas Hodgskin and the London Mechanics’ Institute, 1823–8....Pages 157-175 ‘Rural War’ and the Missing Revolution in Early Nineteenth-century England....Pages 176-190 Whiggery and America: Accommodating the Radical Threat....Pages 191-206 Controlling the Riots: Dickens, Barnaby Rudge and Romantic Revolution....Pages 207-227 Back Matter....Pages 228-242 Annotation 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 "Britain has a long tradition of radicalism and this tradition has been the topic of much interest to and much debate amongst scholars. In a volume which honours one of the subject's most renowned and respected historians, Malcolm I. Thomis, a distinguished team of contributors present fresh and inspiring essays which focus on some of the events, people and ideas which shaped the currents of radicalism in the turbulent years now appropriately described as the 'age of romanticism and revolution'."--BOOK JACKET. Among other struggles, the American Revolution was a constitutional conflict between American patriots and British imperialists who disagreed sharply and fundamentally in their understanding of the liberties of British subjects and their interpretation of the British constitution.