From medieval Runnymede to twentieth-century Jarrow, from King
Alfred to George Orwell by way of John Lilburne and Mary
Wollstonecraft, a rich and colourful thread of radicalism runs
through a thousand years of British history. In this fascinating
study, Edward Vallance traces a national tendency towards
revolution, irreverence and reform wherever it surfaces and in all
its variety. He unveils the British people who fought and died for
religious freedom, universal suffrage, justice and liberty - and
shows why, now more than ever, their heroic achievements must be
celebrated. Beginning with Magna Carta, Vallance subjects the
touchstones of British radicalism to rigorous scrutiny. He evokes
the figureheads of radical action, real and mythic - Robin Hood and
Captain Swing, Wat Tyler, Ned Ludd, Thomas Paine and Emmeline
Pankhurst - and the popular movements that bore them. Lollards and
Levellers, Diggers, Ranters and Chartists, each has its membership,
principles and objectives revealed.
關於作者:
Edward Vallance completed his B.A and PhD at Balliol College,
Oxford. From 2000 to 2002 he was the De Velling Willis Research
Fellow at the University of Sheffield. He is now a lecturer in
Early Modern History at the University of Liverpool.