Synopses & Reviews
This collection of interdisciplinary essays examines three centuries of radical political activity and thought in England in an attempt to identify and isolate "radical traditions." Written by a distinguished group of international experts, these essays explore and reflect upon the concept of radicalism in political thought and action within a theoretical context.
Review
"...this is a fine book that will be compulsory reading for any student of the development of oppositional political ideas in England."
-Paul Pickering, H-Albion
Review
"The introduction, eleven content chapters, and the two afterwords are written by distinguished scholars of English history or political theory, who draw upon career's worth of work and reflection to move effortlessly and seamlessly across a spectrum of topics and personalities. The result is an exceedingly learned book that ought to find a home in the library of many scholars."
Jeffrey R. Wigelworth, Canadian Journal of History
Review
"The essays are clearly written, free of jargon, and point toward a more precise notion of radicalism in a traditional society...Predictable differences of agenda and tone notwithstanding, these essays show the potential for redefining the notion of radicalism itself." --CHOICE
Review
"Most historians of political thought will have a keen interest in historiography even if it is not their specialization; all, however, have an interest in the history and development of political ideas. Whichever way you take it, this is a useful, interesting and readable volume." --Sarah Hale, University of London
Synopsis
Study of three centuries of radical ideas and activity in English political and social history.
Synopsis
English Radicalism is a collection of interdisciplinary essays that together explore three centuries of radical political activity and thought in England. The book is especially concerned to examine the things that might link this activity and thinking into a 'radical tradition'. Written by a distinguished group of international experts, it is a collective exploration of its subject, rather than a set of separate essays, a feature enhanced by an introduction and two 'afterwords' which reflect on the subject of radicalism in political thought and action in the broadest sense.
Table of Contents
Introduction Glenn Burgess and Matthew Festenstein; 1. A politics of emergency in the reign of Elizabeth I Stephen Alford; 2. Richard Overton as a milestone of English radical history: the new intertext of the civic ethos in mid-seventeenth-century England Luc Borot; 3. Radicalism and the English Revolution Glenn Burgess; 4. 'That Kind of People': Late Stuart Radicals and their manifestos: a functional approach Richard Greaves; 5. The divine creature and the female citizen: manners, religion, and the two rights strategies in Mary Wollstonecraft's Vindications Gregory Claeys; 6. On not inventing the English Revolution: the radical failure of the 1790s as linguistic non-performance? Iain Hampsher-Monk; 7. Disconcerting ideas: explaining popular radicalism and popular loyalism in the 1790s Mark Philp; 8. The 1790s and the emergence of British radicalism Gregory Claeys; 8. Henry Hunt's peep into a prison: the radical discontinuities of imprisonment for debt Margot Finn; 9. Jeremy Bentham's radicalism Fred Rosen; 10. Religion and the emergence of radicalism in nineteenth-century England J. C. D. Clark; 11. Joseph Hume and the Reformation of India 1819-33 Miles Taylor; Afterwords: Radicalism revisited Conal Condren; Radicalism reassessed J. C. Davis.