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A remarkably perceptive and vivid life of William Cobbett, one of England's greatest radicals. The early years of the nineteenth century were ones of misery and oppression. The common people were thrown into conditions of extreme poverty by enclosures and the Agricultural Revolution, and the long Tory administration of Lord Liverpool saw its task as keeping law and order at all costs. The cause of reform was a dangerous one, as William Cobbett was to find. Cobbett is best known for his Rural Rides, that classic account of early-nineteenth century Britain which has never been out of print. But he was a much greater figure than that implies, being the foremost satirist and proponent of reform of the time. He had an invincible stomach for provoking the deceit and vanity of the supposedly good and great, and had an abiding hatred of the establishment, or 'The Thing', as he christened it.
"William Cobbett is one of the most remarkable men in our history. Born in 1763, the son of a Surrey farmer, and virtually self-educated, he became a prolific journalist and master of invective, and is still recognised as one of the greatest ever writers of English prose." "Cobbett lived in turbulent times, and his story is as exciting and eventful as any novel. He joined the army as a young man, but was forced to flee to France and subsequently to America after attempting to expose corruption in his regiment. In Philadelphia he began his career as a political pamphleteer, but once again fell foul of the law and returned to England, where he started his celebrated Political Register, in which for decades he would lambast corruption and excoriate hypocrisy. The foremost satirist and proponent of reform of his era, he had an inexhaustible appetite for exposing the misconduct of the ruling classes. Imprisoned in 1810 for criminal libel, he later fled to America for a second time, but on his return to England (with Thomas Paine's bones in tow) he was yet again put on trial." --Publisher's description.

The Life and Letters of William Cobbett in England & America: Introductory ; ch. I. Early years (1763-1784) ; ch. II. In the army (1781-1792) ; ch. III. Marriage (1792) ; ch. IV. The United States (1792-1800) ; ch. V. Cobbett returns to England (1800-1801) ; ch. VI. Cobbett's "political register" (1802) ; ch. VII. Cobbett's correspondence (1803) ; ch. VIII. Cobbett's correspondence (1804) ; ch. IX. Botley ; ch. X. Cobbett's correspondence (1805) ; ch. XI. Cobbett's correspondence (1806)

Lewis Saul Benjamin

Published: 1913

Total Pages: 388


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Politician, journalist, reformer, convict, social commentator and all-round thorn in the side of the establishment, William Cobbett cut a swathe through late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century British society with his copious and acerbic writings on any and every issue that caught his attention. Both a radical and a conservative, and with strong opinions on any given subject, Cobbett had a talent for controversial and pugnacious writing that echoes down the centuries and still rings fresh today. Commemorating the 250th anniversary of Cobbett’s birth in 1763, this book provides a selection of his writings - both published and unpublished - that highlight his talents, obsessions, and concerns. From corruption and Parliamentary reform, poverty and commerce, to patriotism and religion, the selections display Cobbett at his best - sometimes outraged and excoriating, sometimes sympathetic and reasoned - but always honest and witty. Divided into 14 chapters each dealing with a particular theme, the selections are contextualised so as to provide the necessary historical background for any readers who may be unfamiliar with the period. In so doing, the book not only brings to life the dynamic and rumbustious world of Georgian England within which Cobbett moved, but also reveals many uncanny parallels with modern concerns. Whether espousing political reform, promoting rural affairs or decrying a spiralling national debt, many of Cobbett’s opinions seem as relevant today as when they were first written. Certainly modern readers will find much here to educate, amuse and admire.
By giving rise to new ideologies that in time transformed the political structure of much of the world, the American and French Revolutions stand as two of the most important political events in global history. The American establishment of a Republican government, and the gradual expansion of democracy that ensued, altered traditional political and social thought, thus shaping the later French Revolution and creating the core ethic of later American political values. The Enlightenment ideals of the French Revolution, as later spread by the armies of Napoleon, dissolved most traditional European notions of political authority. This encyclopedia offers current, detailed information on the people, events, movements, and ideas that defined the revolutions in France and America, as well as in other parts of the world during the late eighteenth-century Age of Revolutions. Besides numerous entries on various countries of Europe whose histories were affected by the French Revolution, such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Russia, the many entries covering the people, events, groups, and ideologies of Revolutionary and Napoleonic France include the following: Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Georges Jacques Danton, The Directory, Guillotine, Josephine, Empress of France, Law of Suspects, The Mountain, Prairial Insurrection, Tennis Court Oath, White Terror. Besides various entries covering American colonies/states, such as Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Virginia, the numerous entries covering the figures, events, and ideologies of the American Revolution and Early Federal Period of the United States include the following: Abigail Adams, Boston Massacre, Constitutional Convention, William Franklin, Lexington and Concord, Actions at Loyalists, Massachusetts Government Act, Edmund Randolph, Signers of the Declaration of Independence. Finally, the encyclopedia offers various entries covering important revolutionary figures and movements that were active in other parts of the world during the period 1760-1815, including the following: Simon Bolivar, Dutch Revolutions, Haitian Revolution, Hispaniola, Latin American Revolutions, Mexican Revolution, Pugachev Rebellion, Toussaint l'Ouverture. Besides over 450 clearly written and highly informative entries, the encyclopedia also includes primary documents, a chronology, an extensive introductory essay, a bibliography, a guide to related topics, and a series of useful maps.