James Epstein

This book explores the hopes, desires, and imagined futures that characterized British radicalism in the 1790s, and the resurfacing of this sense of possibility in the following decades. The articulation of “Jacobin” sentiments reflected the emotional investments of men and women inspired by the French Revolution and committed to political transformation. The authors emphasize the performative aspects of political culture, and the spaces in which mobilization and expression occurred – including the club room, tavern, coffeehouse, street, outdoor meeting, theater, chapel, courtroom, prison, and convict ship. America, imagined as a site of republican citizenship, and New South Wales, experienced as a space of political exile, widened the scope of radical dreaming. Part 1 focuses on the political culture forged under the shifting influence of the French Revolution. Part 2 explores the afterlives of British Jacobinism in the year 1817, in early Chartist memorialization of the Scottish “martyrs” of 1794, and in the writings of E. P. Thompson. The relationship between popular radicals and the Romantics is a theme pursued in several chapters; a dialogue is sustained across the disciplinary boundaries of British history and literary studies. The volume captures the revolutionary decade’s effervescent yearning, and its unruly persistence in later years.

This book explores the hopes, desires, and imagined futures that characterized British radicalism in the 1790s, and the resurfacing of this sense of possibility in the following decades. The articulation of “Jacobin” sentiments reflected the emotional investments of men and women inspired by the French Revolution and committed to political transformation. The authors emphasize the performative aspects of political culture, and the spaces in which mobilization and expression occurred – including the club room, tavern, coffeehouse, street, outdoor meeting, theater, chapel, courtroom, prison, and convict ship. America, imagined as a site of republican citizenship, and New South Wales, experienced as a space of political exile, widened the scope of radical dreaming. Part 1 focuses on the political culture forged under the shifting influence of the French Revolution. Part 2 explores the afterlives of British Jacobinism in the year 1817, in early Chartist memorialization of the Scottish “martyrs” of 1794, and in the writings of E. P. Thompson. The relationship between popular radicals and the Romantics is a theme pursued in several chapters; a dialogue is sustained across the disciplinary boundaries of British history and literary studies. The volume captures the revolutionary decade’s effervescent yearning, and its unruly persistence in later years.

In 1806 General Thomas Picton, Britain's first governor of Trinidad, was brought to trial for the torture of a free mulatto named Louisa Calderon and for overseeing a regime of terror over the island's slave population. James Epstein offers a fascinating account of the unfolding of this colonial drama. He shows the ways in which the trial and its investigation brought empire 'home' and exposed the disjuncture between a national self-image of humane governance and the brutal realities of colonial rule. He uses the trial to open up a range of issues, including colonial violence and norms of justice, the status of the British subject, imperial careering, visions of development after slavery, slave conspiracy and the colonial archive. He reveals how Britain's imperial regime became more authoritarian, hierarchical and militarised but also how unease about abuses of power and of the rights of colonial subjects began to grow.

This book reflects on popular politics in Britain during the turbulent period of industrialization, focusing on how political meanings were produced and sustained. It is also a spirited series of responses to the changing terrain of historical studies. It takes as its starting point the goal of defining a middle ground between E. P. Thompson's concept of cultural materialism and the postmodern view of culture as a system of signs and codes (with emphasis on the linguistic grounding of experience). The first part of the book evaluates and critiques the work of two of the most influential proponents of the linguistic turn in British historical writing: Gareth Stedman Jones and Patrick Joyce. The second part contains four case studies: the first two treating British political culture in the age of the French Revolution, the third dealing with the role of space in historical reasoning, and the fourth assessing the role of gentleman leaders within popular movements.

This book reflects on popular politics in Britain during the turbulent period of industrialization, focusing on how political meanings were produced and sustained. It is also a spirited series of responses to the changing terrain of historical studies. It takes as its starting point the goal of defining a middle ground between E. P. Thompson's concept of cultural materialism and the postmodern view of culture as a system of signs and codes (with emphasis on the linguistic grounding of experience). The first part of the book evaluates and critiques the work of two of the most influential proponents of the linguistic turn in British historical writing: Gareth Stedman Jones and Patrick Joyce. The second part contains four case studies: the first two treating British political culture in the age of the French Revolution, the third dealing with the role of space in historical reasoning, and the fourth assessing the role of gentleman leaders within popular movements.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

This six volume set reproduces the complete writings of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) as well as other contemporary literature and parliamentary debates, and reports relating to the Society. The LCS was at the forefront of the call for political reform in the late 18th century.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was a prolific writer, best known as the anti-Radical founder of Cobbett's "Political Register" which ran from 1802-35. This collection of his writings presents the texts fully reset and annotated with biographical and analytical introductions.