Description
Book SynopsisFollowing the overthrow of the absolutist monarchy in France in 1789, European history was punctuated by political upheavals until in 1848 the continent was swept by revolutionary fervour. Britain alone of the major western powers seemed exempt. This text examines this apparent difference.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1. Sedition and Treason, 1792-1820
The impact of the revolution in France
Plots, real or imagined, 1793-1795
United Irish, English and Scotsmen, 1795-1803
The seriousness of the threat
Luddism
The post-war crisis, 1817
From Peterloo to Cato Street and Bonnymuir
Conclusion
Part 2. Revolution or reform, 1830-1832
The Reform Bill crisis
Political unions and urban riots
The Welsh rising, 1831
Rural unrest
Conclusion
Part 3, 1837-1848
The first Chartist crisis, 1839-1840
The Monmouthshire and Yorkshire risings
The second Chartist crisis, 1842
The third Chartist crisis, 1848
Conclusion
Part 4, Why was there no revolution
The nature of the popular movement
Geography and the problem of London
Loyalism and the silent majority
The cohesion of social welfare
Religion
The strength of the state
The authority of the law
The forces of order
Conclusion
Appendix: Wheat and bread prices, 1790-1850
Select bibliography
Index
