London Crowds in the Reign of Charles II: Propaganda and Politics from the Restoration until the Exclusion Crisis (Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History)

By Tim Harris

Book Overview

This study of the political attitudes of ordinary Londoners during the reign of Charles II examines not only the manifestations of public opinion - for example, riot and demonstration - but also the manner of its formation - religious experience, economic activity, and exposure to mass political propaganda. Professor Harris shows to be misleading the conventional view, that the whigs enjoyed the support of the London masses, and the tories were essentially anti-populist. Both sides had public support during the exclusion crisis, and this division stemmed from fundamental religious tensions within London political culture, dating back to 1660 and before. Attractively illustrated with polemical contemporary engravings, London Crowds demonstrates clearly the value of bringing together both high and low activity into a truly integrated social history of politics, and sheds important new light not just on urban agitation but on the nature of late-Stuart party conflict.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521398452
• ISBN13: 9780521398459
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great book

Anyone looking for this book already knows that it is a must read for anyone interested in the late Stuart Period. The main contribution of this book is that it writes common people, the "crowd," back into a peroid of history they have historically had no place. Plus, it's a quick read.