The Sense of the People
Politics, Culture and Imperialism in England, 1715–1785

This book, first published in 1995, demonstrates the central role of 'people', the empire, and the citizen in eighteenth-century English popular politics.

Kathleen Wilson (Author)

9780521635271, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 May 1998

480 pages, 15 b/w illus. 1 map 7 tables
21.5 x 13.9 x 2.9 cm, 0.673 kg

'… this book, by virtue of its broad vision and sense of change, its probings in depth, and its chronological sweep provides us with an important new perspective on eighteenth-century English politics.' Albion

This book, first published in 1995, demonstrates the central role of the 'people', the empire, and the citizen in eighteenth-century English popular politics. Pioneering in its focus on provincial towns, its attention to the imperial contexts of urban politics and its use of a rich and diverse array of sources - from newspapers, prints and plays to pottery and tea-cloths - it shows how the wide-ranging political culture of English towns attuned ordinary men and women to the issues of state power and thus enabled them to stake their own claims in national and imperial affairs.

Part I. The National Context: Introduction: The People, Towns and Politics of eighteenth-Century England: 1. Print, people and culture in the urban Renaissance
2. Loyalism abounding to the chief of sinners: the reconfiguration of opposition politics, 1714–35
3. Patriotic adventure: libertarianism, war and empire, 1736–62
4. Patriot's apogee: Wilkite radicalism and the cult of resistance, 1763–74
5. The crisis: radicalism, loyalism and the American War, 1774–85
Part II. The Cases of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Norwich: 6. Changing contexts: Newcastle and Norwich in the eighteenth century
7. The rejection of deference: Newcastle
8. Clientage and its discontents: Norwich
Conclusions: the people, the state and the subject.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], British & Irish history [HBJD1]