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Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
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The Day Parliament Burned Down (Paperback)
Loot Price: R386
Discovery Miles 3 860
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The Day Parliament Burned Down (Paperback)
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Loot Price R386
Discovery Miles 3 860
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of
bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the
Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be
seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top
of the South Downs. In front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses
the great conflagration destroyed Parliament's glorious old
buildings and their contents. No one who witnessed the disaster
would ever forget it. The events of that October day in 1834 were
as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of
Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century - yet today
this national catastrophe is a forgotten disaster, not least
because Barry and Pugin's monumental new Palace of Westminster has
obliterated all memory of its 800 year-old predecessor. Rumours as
to the fire's cause were rife. Was it arson, terrorism, the work of
foreign operatives, a kitchen accident, careless builders, or even
divine judgement on politicians? In this, the first full-length
book on the subject, Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton
unfolds the gripping story of the fire over the course of that
fateful day and night. In the process, she paints a skilful
portrait of the political and social context of the time, including
details of the slums of Westminster and the frenzied expansion of
the West End; the plight of the London Irish; child labour,
sinecures and corruption in high places; fire-fighting techniques
and floating engines; the Great Reform Act and the new Poor Law;
Captain Swing and arson at York Minster; the parlous state of
public buildings and records in the Georgian period; and above all
the symbolism which many contemporaries saw in the spectacular fall
of a national icon.
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