Gregory Claeys explores the reception of the French Revolution in Britain through the medium of its leading interpreters. Claeys argues that the major figures - Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin and John Thelwall - collectively laid the foundations for political debate for the following century, and longer.

Aspirations for a better - even a perfect - society have existed throughout history, often imagined in intricate detail by philosophers, poets, social reformers, architects and artists. This book explores a perennially powerful idea: the quest for the ideal society. Gregory Claeys surveys the influence of the idea of Utopia on history. Central to his exploration of ideal worlds are creation myths; archetypes of heaven and the afterlife; new worlds and voyages of discovery; ages of revolution and technological progress; model communities and kibbutzim; political and ecological dystopias; space travel and science fiction. The most significant utopias throughout history - whether envisaged or attempted - are covered, including visions of the ideal society in the West as well as American, Asian, African and the Arab worlds. From classical times to the present day, this compelling book traces the enduring human need to imagine and construct ideal worlds.

This book investigates Thomas Paine's social and political thought in both its British and American moments. It examines the ways in which Paine's ideas were understood. The book restores him to the position his contemporaries accorded him, that of an important writer on politics and society.

This major work of academic reference provides the first comprehensive survey of political thought in Europe, North America and Asia in the century following the French Revolution. Written by a distinguished team of international scholars, this Cambridge History is the latest in a sequence of volumes firmly established as the principal reference source for the history of political thought. In a series of scholarly but accessible essays, every major theme in nineteenth-century political thought is covered, including political economy, religion, democratic radicalism, nationalism, socialism and feminism. The volume also includes studies of major figures, including Hegel, Mill, Bentham and Marx, and biographical notes on every significant thinker in the period. Of interest to students and scholars of politics and history at all levels, this volume explores seismic changes in the languages and expectations of politics accompanying political revolution, industrialisation and imperial expansion and less-noted continuities in political and social thinking.

Imperial Sceptics provides a highly original analysis of the emergence of opposition to the British Empire from 1850-1920. Departing from existing accounts, which have focused upon the Boer War and the writings of John Hobson, Gregory Claeys proposes a new chronology for the contours of resistance to imperial expansion. Claeys locates the impetus for such opposition in the late 1850s with the British followers of Auguste Comte. Tracing critical strands of anti-imperial thought through to the First World War, Claeys then scrutinises the full spectrum of socialist writings from the early 1880s onwards, revealing a fundamental division over whether a new conception of 'socialist imperialism' could appeal to the electorate and satisfy economic demands. Based upon extensive archival research, and utilising rare printed sources, Imperial Sceptics will prove a major contribution to our understanding of nineteenth-century political thought, shedding new light on theories of nationalism, patriotism, the state and religion.

This is a major collection of eighteenth-century British utopias. Seven tracts, spanning the century, show how the image of the ideal society was used as a form of social criticism, and particularly as a means of focussing on ideas of progress and commercial development. Radical and republican thinking about property ownership, social equality, and commerce and luxury - of particular relevance to the critique of 'corruption' in this period - coexists with nostalgic and conservative notions of the ideal hierarchical community. The introduction, which examines the relationship of these tracts to the political thought of the period, shows how issues and developments of key importance, from the debate surrounding the French Revolution to the origins of Romanticism and early socialism, are illuminated by an understanding of the utopian tradition.

Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Thought provides essential information on, and a critical interpretation of, nineteenth-century thought and nineteenth-century thinkers. The project takes as its temporal boundary the period 1789 to 1914. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Thought primarily covers social and political thinking, but key entries also survey science, religion, law, art, concepts of modernity, the body and health, and so on, and thereby take into account all of the key developments in the intellectual history of the period. The encyclopedia is alphabetically organized, and consists of: * principal entries, divided into ideas (4000 words) and persons (2500 words) * subsidiary entries of 1000 words, which are entirely biographical * informational entries of 500 words, which are also biographical.

Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Thought provides essential information on, and a critical interpretation of, nineteenth-century thought and nineteenth-century thinkers. The project takes as its temporal boundary the period 1789 to 1914. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Thought primarily covers social and political thinking, but key entries also survey science, religion, law, art, concepts of modernity, the body and health, and so on, and thereby take into account all of the key developments in the intellectual history of the period. The encyclopedia is alphabetically organized, and consists of: principal entries, divided into ideas (4000 words) and persons (2500 words) subsidiary entries of 1000 words, which are entirely biographical informational entries of 500 words, which are also biographical. Consultant Editors: Frederick Beiser, Indiana University, USA; Christopher Duggan, University of Reading, UK; Pamela Pilbeam, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK; Chushichi Tsuzuk

A comprehensive study of the social and political thought of Thomas Paine, one of the most important political writers of the modern era and author of "The Rights of Man". This study concentrates on that political tract, and places it in the context of his earlier writings and evolving thoughts. It sets Paine's work against a background of natural law and rights writings, republicanism and radicalism and Paine's Quaker and deist beliefs. The book demonstrates the underlying consistency of Paine's thought, considers at length the British reception of "The Rights of Man" and in its discussion of Paine's ideas presents a new and more sophisticated interpretation of his life, thought and influence.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

Utopian writing exists at a juncture of literature, politics and science, making this edition a unique resource for the study of 19th-century society. The texts offer an original interpretation of 19th-century culture by contemporary writers, providing new insights for modern researchers from both a literary and historical standpoint.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

Containing over 100 pamphlets, this edition provides a resource for the study of Chartism, covering the main areas of Chartist activity, including agitation for the Charter itself, the Land Plan, the issue of moral versus physical force and trade unionism.

In the period 1700-1850, the history of utopian thought cast light on ideas of property-holding, community, and social and political reform movements, including those for the extension of rights to slaves, women and animals. This text includes some of the best-known tracts of the period.

In the period 1700-1850, the history of utopian thought cast light on ideas of property-holding, community, and social and political reform movements, including those for the extension of rights to slaves, women and animals. This text includes some of the best-known tracts of the period.

In the period 1700-1850, the history of utopian thought cast light on ideas of property-holding, community, and social and political reform movements, including those for the extension of rights to slaves, women and animals. This text includes some of the best-known tracts of the period.