Chartism, the mass movement for democratic rights, dominated British domestic politics in the late 1830s and 1840s. It mobilised over three million supporters at its height. Few modern European social movements, certainly in Britain, have captured the attention of posterity to quite the extent it has done. Encompassing moments of great drama, it is one of the very rare points in British history where it is legitimate to speculate how close the country came to revolution. It is also pivotal to debates around continuity and change in Victorian Britain, gender, language and identity. Chartism: A New History is the only book to offer in-depth coverage of the entire chronological spread (1838-58) of this pivotal movement and to consider its rich and varied history in full. Based throughout on original research (including newly discovered material) this is a vivid and compelling narrative of a movement which mobilised three million people at its height. The author deftly intertwines analysis and narrative, interspersing his chapters with short 'Chartist Lives', relating the intimate and personal to the realm of the social and political. This book will become essential reading for anyone with an interest in early Victorian Britain, specialists, students and general readers alike. -- .

Integrating in detail the experiences of both Britain and Ireland, 1820 provides a compelling narrative and analysis of the United Kingdom in a year of European revolution. It charts the events and forces that tested the government almost to its limits, and the processes and mechanisms through which order was maintained. This book will be required reading for everyone interested in late-Georgian and early nineteenth-century Britain or Ireland. 1820 is about much more than a single year. Locating the Queen Caroline divorce crisis within a broader analysis of the challenges confronting the government, it places that much-investigated episode in a new light. It illuminates both the pivotal Tory Ministry under Lord Liverpool and the Whigs (by turns febrile and feeble) who opposed it. It is also a major contribution to our understanding of popular radicalism and its political containment. -- .

Integrating in detail the experiences of both Britain and Ireland, 1820 provides a compelling narrative and analysis of the United Kingdom in a year of European revolution. It charts the events and forces that tested the government almost to its limits, and the processes and mechanisms through which order was maintained. Available in paperback for the first time , this book will be required reading for everyone interested in late-Georgian and early nineteenth-century Britain or Ireland. 1820 is about much more than a single year. Locating the Queen Caroline divorce crisis within a broader analysis of the challenges confronting the government, it places that much-investigated episode in a new light. It illuminates both the pivotal Tory Ministry under Lord Liverpool and the Whigs (by turns febrile and feeble) who opposed it. It is also a major contribution to our understanding of popular radicalism and its political containment. -- .

First published in 1994, this volume features an autobiography of Allen Davenport, a key figure linking Chartism with the French Revolution, along with some of his selected works. Davenport was an important propagandist for agrarian reform, a critical follower of Robert Owen, one of the first male supporters of the feminist causes and birth control and a leading member of the revolutionary underground movement in Regency London. He was a prolific author, political journalist and poet. His autobiography, published in 1845, has long been presumed lost - historians have had to make do with tantalising fragments from contemporary reviews. When a copy was found in Nashville in 1982 it was immediately recognised as a unique source of information about nineteenth-century popular politics. This volume reprints the complete text with editorial apparatus and supplemented by a careful selection of Davenport's other writing by Dr Malcolm Chase. The Life and Literary Pursuits of Allen Davenport thus gives a unique insight into the cultural and political life of England in the crowded years between Peterloo and Chartism.

First published in 1994, this volume features an autobiography of Allen Davenport, a key figure linking Chartism with the French Revolution, along with some of his selected works. Davenport was an important propagandist for agrarian reform, a critical follower of Robert Owen, one of the first male supporters of the feminist causes and birth control and a leading member of the revolutionary underground movement in Regency London. He was a prolific author, political journalist and poet. His autobiography, published in 1845, has long been presumed lost - historians have had to make do with tantalising fragments from contemporary reviews. When a copy was found in Nashville in 1982 it was immediately recognised as a unique source of information about nineteenth-century popular politics. This volume reprints the complete text with editorial apparatus and supplemented by a careful selection of Davenport's other writing by Dr Malcolm Chase. The Life and Literary Pursuits of Allen Davenport thus gives a unique insight into the cultural and political life of England in the crowded years between Peterloo and Chartism.

Once the heartland of British labour history, trade unionism has been marginalised in much recent scholarship. In a critical survey from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, this book argues for its reinstatement. Trade unionism is shown to be both intrinsically important and to provide a window onto the broader historical landscape; the evolution of trade union principles and practices is traced from the seventeenth century to mid-Victorian times. Underpinning this survey is an explanation of labour organisation that reaches back to the fourteenth century. Throughout, the emphasis is on trade union mentality and ideology, rather than on institutional history. There is a critical focus on the politics of gender, on the demarcation of skill and on the role of the state in labour issues. New insight is provided on the long-debated question of trade unions' contribution to social and political unrest from the era of the French Revolution through to Chartism.

In a critical survey from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, this book argues for the reinstatement of trade unionism. Trade unionism is shown to be both intrinsically important and to provide a window onto the broader historical landscape; the evolution of trade union principles and practices is traced from the seventeenth century to mid-Victorian times. Underpinning this survey is an explanation of labour organisation that reaches back to the fourteenth century. Throughout, the emphasis is on trade union mentality and ideology, rather than on institutional history. There is a critical focus on the politics of gender, on the demarcation of skill and on the role of the state in labour issues. New insight is provided on the long-debated question of trade unions' contribution to social and political unrest from the era of the French Revolution through to Chartism.

This book traces the development of agrarian ideas from the 1770s through to Chartism, and seeks to explain why, in an era of industrialization and urban growth, land remained one of the major issues in popular politics. Malcolm Chase considers the relationship between 'land consciousness' and early socialism; attempts to create alternative communities; and contemporary perceptions of nature and the environment. He concludes that, far from being an anachronistic, utopian, and reactionary movement, agrarianism was an integral part of the working class experience and of radical politics.The People's Farm also provides the most extensive study to date of Thomas Spence, and his followers the Spenceans. New light is thrown on the Spa Fields and Cato Street conspiracies, in which they were involved; but their true significance lies in their contribution to English radicalism - a key factor in shaping the politics of agrarian reform in the 1820s and 1840s.

This book explores some of the main channels and bye-ways in the history of Chartism; it considers: The place of Chartism within the wider framework of Victorian politics The Chartist Land Plan The impact of Canada's 1837-8 rebellions on Chartism Chartism's endurance in Wales beyond the 1839 Rising The role of children in Chartist campaigning Key questions in Chartist historiography Chartism's impact on the mid-Victorian ethos of 'self-help', and on the workings of parliamentary democracy Malcolm Chase's earlier book Chartism: A New History was hailed as a landmark in published works on Chartism. This collection, firmly located within Britain's tradition of writing 'history from below', offers an unusually wide variety of stimulating perspectives on key issues in the history of what, effectively, was Britain's civil rights movement. Written in an open, accessible style it will appeal to a wide range of readers, specialist and non-specialist alike.