Product Description

This book, the first full-length study of metropolitan Chartism, provides extensive new material for the 1840s and establishes the regional and national importance of the London movement throughout this decade. After an opening section which considers the economic and social structure of early-Victorian London, and provides an occupational breakdown of Chartists, Dr Goodway turns to the three main components of the metropolitan movement: its organized form; the crowd; and the trades. The development of London Chartism is correlated to economic fluctuations, and, after the nationally significant failure of London to respond in 1838–9, 1842 is seen as a peak in terms of conventional organization, and 1848 as the high point of turbulence and revolutionary potential. The section concludes with an exposition of the insurrectionary plans of 1848.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1414855 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

Unknown history of the British people
My enjoyment of this book by Dr Goodway has much to do with my personal interest in the period, but in recommending it to friends was amazed at the feed-back I recieved. Public knowledge of the nineteenth century is limited to the literature of Dickens and such works as Pride and Prejudice or sense and sensibility, but there was so much more, and that is what most of my friends said having read this work. Most people know so little about the history of our own country other than Henry VIII or the WW2. The history of the people of Britain is a struggle for political freedom, epitimised by the Chartist era beautifully illustrated by Dr Goodway in this book.
Make no mistake, one step into this work and you'll have difficulty getting out. As I have said, so little is generally known outside historian circles and yet without the Chartists we would most likely have a very different Parliament and Labour movement. The Chartists exemplify the very best of the British spirit. 'London Chartism' exemplifies the very best in British historical writing.