Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre - Softcover

Jacqueline Riding

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1786695847 ISBN 13: 9781786695840

Publisher: Head of Zeus, 2019

Synopsis

The story of the Peterloo massacre, a defining moment in the history of British democracy, told with passion and authority.
'Excellent' Zadie Smith

'Fast-paced and full of fascinating detail' Tim Clayton

'A superb account of one of the defining moments in modern British history' Tristram Hunt

'Peterloo is one of the greatest scandals of British political history... Riding tells this tragic story with mesmerising skill' John Bew

On a hot late summer's day, a crowd of 60,000 gathered in St Peter's Field. They came from all over Lancashire - ordinary working-class men, women and children - walking to the sound of hymns and folk songs, wearing their best clothes and holding silk banners aloft. Their mood was happy, their purpose wholly serious: to demand fundamental reform of a corrupt electoral system.

By the end of the day fifteen people, including two women and a child, were dead or dying and 650 injured, hacked down by drunken yeomanry after local magistrates panicked at the size of the crowd. Four years after defeating the 'tyrant' Bonaparte at Waterloo, the British state had turned its forces against its own people as they peaceably exercised their time-honoured liberties. As well as describing the events of 16 August in shattering detail, Jacqueline Riding evokes the febrile state of England in the late 1810s, paints a memorable portrait of the reform movement and its charismatic leaders, and assesses the political legacy of the massacre to the present day.

As fast-paced and powerful as it is rigorously researched, Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre adds significantly to our understanding of a tragic staging-post on Britain's journey to full democracy.

About this title

About the Author

Dr Jacqueline Riding specialises in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British history and art. She read History and Art History at the universities of Leicester, London and York, and has over twenty-five years' experience working as a curator and consultant within a broad range of museums, galleries and historic buildings, including the Guards Museum, Tate Britain and Historic Royal Palaces. From 1993-1999 she was Assistant Curator at the Palace of Westminster and later founding Director of the Handel House Museum, London. Her publications include Houses of Parliament: History, Art, Architecture (2000). She was the consultant historian and art historian on Mike Leigh's award-winning Mr. Turner (2014) and is the consultant historian on his next feature film, Peterloo. Jacqueline Riding is an Associate Research Fellow in the School of Arts, Birkbeck College, University of London and lives in South London.

Jacqueline Riding is the author of Jacobites: A New History of the '45 Rebellion. Former curator of the Palace of Westminster and Director of the Handel House Museum, she is a historical adviser on feature films, including Mike Leigh's Mr Turner and Peterloo.




Jacqueline Riding is the author of Jacobites: A New History of the '45 Rebellion. Former curator of the Palace of Westminster and Director of the Handel House Museum, she is a historical adviser on feature films, including Mike Leigh's Mr Turner and Peterloo.

Edition details

• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1786695847
• ISBN 13: 9781786695840
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400