Revolutionary Britannia?: Reflections on the Threat of Revolution in Britain, 1789-1848

For two generations following the overthrow of the absolutist monarchy in France in 1789 until the revolution of 1848, political upheaval broke out across Europe--except, it seems, in Britain. Why? For a century historians dismissed revolutionary outbursts as mere economic protest or the work of trouble-makers. This book takes the full measure of protest and revolution in England, from the Jacobins of the 1790s and the Luddites of 1812 to the Chartists of 1839-48. Royle challenges the assertion that "Britain was different," drawing on recent research to show how the revolutionaries were defeated by government propaganda and the strength of popular conservatism.