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The Peterloo massacre
*** The subject of the new major film by Mike Leigh***Unity of the oppressed can make a difference in politically uncertain timesA peaceful protest turned tragedy; this is the true story of the working class fight for the vote.On August 16 1819, in St Peter’s Field, Manchester, a large non-violent gathering demanding parliamentary reform turned into a massacre, leaving many dead and hundreds more injured.This catastrophic event was one of the key moments of the age, a political awakening of the working class, and eventually led to ordinary people gaining suffrage. In this definitive account Joyce Marlow tells the stories of the real people involved and brings to life the atrocity the government attempted to cover up.The Peterloo Massacre is soon to be the subject of a major film directed by Mike Leigh.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
238 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Joyce Marlow
44 books4 followersBorn Manchester 27 December 1929. Professional actress 1949-1966. Occasional Press Officer. Professional writer 1964 onwards.
Founder member Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and Copyright Licensing Agency. Lay member Industrial (now Employment) Tribunal panel 1977 –1990 London and Manchester. 1955 married actor Patrick Connor (1926-2008). Two sons, Nicholas born 1961, Julian 1966.
Founder member Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society and Copyright Licensing Agency. Lay member Industrial (now Employment) Tribunal panel 1977 –1990 London and Manchester. 1955 married actor Patrick Connor (1926-2008). Two sons, Nicholas born 1961, Julian 1966.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 23, 2018
This book was provided through Netgalley for review purpose.
The nineteenth century working class movement is something that has been researched numerous times over the years but The Peterloo Massacre is not a historical event which is discussed much. It is however, when you look at it, it is a highly important event in the history of the working class suffrage movement and it is completely understandable why there is now a film being made of it. Peterloo, a portmanteau of Waterloo, the battle which occurred four years earlier, and St. Peter’s Field where the massacre occurred, was and still is a highly controversial topic, a peaceful gathering in Manchester campaigning for parliamentary reform was turned into a murder scene with no provocation, leaving fifteen dead and hundreds injured. The whole event lasted less than twenty minutes but the repercussions reverberating a lot longer, with even Percy Shelley being outraged enough to write a poem about it.
Joyce Marlow’s book, first published in 1969, is being republished as the two hundredth anniversary of the massacre approaches. It is a very thorough account, it almost reads as a story, covering the major characters, both political and the ordinary people attending the gathering on 16th August. Marlow writes concisely yet in depth of the events leading up to the massacre and the aftermath as well as the day itself, covering everything in less than three hundred pages.
It tells the story of John Lees, a cotton spinner and survivor of Waterloo, who died after the protest, of Henry Hunt, a social reformer and the political heavyweights of the day. The nineteenth century was a turbulent time for the working classes. The Industrial Revolution had created whole areas of a newly dispossessed class who were lacking in any sort of parliamentary representation. The government would be happy to keep it that way, and keep the power in the hands of the land owners but people were becoming more politically aware and wanted change. A precursor to the Great Reform Bill and the Chartist Movement, the Peterloo Massacre started simply as a protest and a campaign for reform. It was peaceful, with a fete like atmosphere, men and women even brought their children and picnics to St. Peter’s Field. Politicians, fearing another French Revolution, sent The Manchester Yeomanry Cavalry who, unprovoked, committed “downright murder”.
The whole event has the same stench about it as Hillsborough, working class men and women going out for the day, killed by negligent and criminal police activity and then subjected to a cover up. At least it only took thirty years for the true events of Hillsborough to come to light, unlike Peterloo, whose aftermath looks like one huge exercise in victim blaming.
The Peterloo Massacre is well written. The writing style is easy to digest and holds the reader’s attention for the duration. It is informative without being condescending and does not assume that the reader already knows everything about the event in question which is a very good thing for a history text. It is decently researched, the primary documents especially but I think the bibliography of secondary documents could have been a little bigger, maybe more on the huge background of nineteenth century class politics. In short, it is a very interesting read and a good contribution to the history of the working class suffrage movement.
Although The Peterloo Massacre is a very good book for a person who is just looking for a quick read or an introduction to the topic, and for that I would highly recommend it, as someone who reads a lot of history I found some aspects to be either lacking or just a little bit strange. The book is a largely narrative account of the Peterloo Massacre and there is very little analysis of the events. That is fine if you are just looking for a narrative account but, after years of reading numerous history texts, the lack of analysis was a little disappointing. There is no real introduction to speak of, no real conclusion and no historiographical debate included at all. As I said before, Marlow did a lot of research but never mentions another historian at any point. The primary materials are better utilised but only mainly serves to further the narration rather than to further any historical discussion. The referencing is odd as well. It might seem a little nitpicky but the bibliography is set out exactly how one would expect a bibliography to look but the notes seem a little informal for a history text and there are no page numbers referenced when books are quoted. The newspapers and archive sources are correctly referenced, however.
On the whole, The Peterloo Massacre is an interesting read. It gives an informative and detailed account of the event as well as the events before and after. It is sympathetic to the working class men and women who suffered through this travesty of an event. For anyone who knows little or nothing about the event, and the nineteenth century suffrage movement I would highly recommend it, it just wasn’t the right book for me. I look for more historical analysis and debate in historical texts and that just wasn’t there for me. It is a good starting point though and very accessible.
The nineteenth century working class movement is something that has been researched numerous times over the years but The Peterloo Massacre is not a historical event which is discussed much. It is however, when you look at it, it is a highly important event in the history of the working class suffrage movement and it is completely understandable why there is now a film being made of it. Peterloo, a portmanteau of Waterloo, the battle which occurred four years earlier, and St. Peter’s Field where the massacre occurred, was and still is a highly controversial topic, a peaceful gathering in Manchester campaigning for parliamentary reform was turned into a murder scene with no provocation, leaving fifteen dead and hundreds injured. The whole event lasted less than twenty minutes but the repercussions reverberating a lot longer, with even Percy Shelley being outraged enough to write a poem about it.
Joyce Marlow’s book, first published in 1969, is being republished as the two hundredth anniversary of the massacre approaches. It is a very thorough account, it almost reads as a story, covering the major characters, both political and the ordinary people attending the gathering on 16th August. Marlow writes concisely yet in depth of the events leading up to the massacre and the aftermath as well as the day itself, covering everything in less than three hundred pages.
It tells the story of John Lees, a cotton spinner and survivor of Waterloo, who died after the protest, of Henry Hunt, a social reformer and the political heavyweights of the day. The nineteenth century was a turbulent time for the working classes. The Industrial Revolution had created whole areas of a newly dispossessed class who were lacking in any sort of parliamentary representation. The government would be happy to keep it that way, and keep the power in the hands of the land owners but people were becoming more politically aware and wanted change. A precursor to the Great Reform Bill and the Chartist Movement, the Peterloo Massacre started simply as a protest and a campaign for reform. It was peaceful, with a fete like atmosphere, men and women even brought their children and picnics to St. Peter’s Field. Politicians, fearing another French Revolution, sent The Manchester Yeomanry Cavalry who, unprovoked, committed “downright murder”.
The whole event has the same stench about it as Hillsborough, working class men and women going out for the day, killed by negligent and criminal police activity and then subjected to a cover up. At least it only took thirty years for the true events of Hillsborough to come to light, unlike Peterloo, whose aftermath looks like one huge exercise in victim blaming.
The Peterloo Massacre is well written. The writing style is easy to digest and holds the reader’s attention for the duration. It is informative without being condescending and does not assume that the reader already knows everything about the event in question which is a very good thing for a history text. It is decently researched, the primary documents especially but I think the bibliography of secondary documents could have been a little bigger, maybe more on the huge background of nineteenth century class politics. In short, it is a very interesting read and a good contribution to the history of the working class suffrage movement.
Although The Peterloo Massacre is a very good book for a person who is just looking for a quick read or an introduction to the topic, and for that I would highly recommend it, as someone who reads a lot of history I found some aspects to be either lacking or just a little bit strange. The book is a largely narrative account of the Peterloo Massacre and there is very little analysis of the events. That is fine if you are just looking for a narrative account but, after years of reading numerous history texts, the lack of analysis was a little disappointing. There is no real introduction to speak of, no real conclusion and no historiographical debate included at all. As I said before, Marlow did a lot of research but never mentions another historian at any point. The primary materials are better utilised but only mainly serves to further the narration rather than to further any historical discussion. The referencing is odd as well. It might seem a little nitpicky but the bibliography is set out exactly how one would expect a bibliography to look but the notes seem a little informal for a history text and there are no page numbers referenced when books are quoted. The newspapers and archive sources are correctly referenced, however.
On the whole, The Peterloo Massacre is an interesting read. It gives an informative and detailed account of the event as well as the events before and after. It is sympathetic to the working class men and women who suffered through this travesty of an event. For anyone who knows little or nothing about the event, and the nineteenth century suffrage movement I would highly recommend it, it just wasn’t the right book for me. I look for more historical analysis and debate in historical texts and that just wasn’t there for me. It is a good starting point though and very accessible.
June 14, 2019
A thoroughly researched work covering one of the defining moments in British labour history.
June 6, 2021
Joyce Marlow provides a very competent historical account of the Peterloo Massacre, an incident in Manchester on 16th August 1819 where a large crowd of peaceful protesters in favour of parliamentary and economic reform were attacked by cavalry policing the event, killing fifteen and injuring hundreds more, many seriously. Despite being a student of history who was born and lives in Greater Manchester, I knew little beyond the basics about Peterloo and I found Marlow's book to be a useful introduction.
Marlow splits the book into three clear segments: the causes and build-up to the massacre; an account of the incident itself; and the aftermath and repercussions. I found the first part rather hard to grasp, as Marlow has to provide a lot of detail in order to place Peterloo in its proper context. Broadly speaking, the motivations for the demonstration in St. Peter's Field were firstly, human rights in the form of parliamentary reform (Manchester had no representation in the House of Commons at this time) and secondly, economic grievances in this fledgling cotton town, partly due to a national downturn caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars but not helped by obstructive new legislation such as the Corn Laws.
Once I got to grips with the book and the period it describes, I began to appreciate it more. It is particularly good at describing the growing pains of Manchester as it became a cotton metropolis during the Industrial Revolution, and how the paternalist Tory government in London failed to keep up with the times. One gains an appreciation of the hardships endured by the people of Manchester - exposed to poor working conditions and lacking any legal form of redress, as England did not even have universal suffrage at this time. Any political murmurs or even modest suggestions of reform were met with hysterical crackdown from the Establishment, still fearful of the memories of the French Revolution and its seditious demands for 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité'. Marlow asks "What did it mean to go on strike in the days before unions were legal and when all tangible power lay with the other side?" (pg. 67), and she provides a useful framework in which to ponder this question.
The second part of the book deals with the massacre itself and provides a clear account of how the events of the day transpired. What was most shocking to me - beyond the woeful decisions made by the magistrates - was the bloodlust evident not just in the yeomanry, but also the regular cavalry. The gathering on St. Peter's Field was seen not as it was - a peaceful protest attended by men, women and children - but as the first shot fired in a working-class insurrection, an English incarnation of the French Revolution which the loyalists and the Establishment feared. The cavalry's after-action reports refer to the cutting-down of unarmed men, women and children as part of a "battle" in which they "routed" the "Enemy". In the days after 16th August, this led to the massacre being given by the people of Manchester the ironic label of 'Peterloo', after the Battle of Waterloo which had been fought four years earlier. (One of the protesters, John Lees, had been a soldier at Waterloo, but was cut down in Manchester by a cavalryman's sabre and trampled underfoot. Despite serious injuries, he went to work the next day (!) but died after a prolonged period of agony some weeks later.) It shows how divided the country was at the time, caught between the paternalism of old England and the new Britain of the Industrial Revolution.
The final section of the book deals with the aftermath; the cowardly attempt at a cover-up by the magistrates who had ordered the cavalry in, and the backing given to them by the government. Unfortunately, this does not have a happy ending; the magistrates and others responsible were rewarded and promoted (one was appointed to the wealthy rectorship of Rochdale), whereas the prominent protesting reformers were jailed and heavily fined. As Marlow puts it, "if you ordered the murder of innocent people the reward was the rectorship of Rochdale, while if you fought for the rights of your fellow human beings the sentence was two years in Ilchester gaol" (pg. 195).
More importantly, there was no real reform of Parliament; in fact, the government successfully cracked down on the freedom of speech and assembly by passing legislation known as the 'Six Acts', and the Radical reformist movement died out within a year or two. But Marlow is correct to label Peterloo a 'watershed'. The political landscape changed slowly but surely as a result of the fallout from St. Peter's Field; the massacre was "a spur that set the horse if not exactly galloping at least trotting" (pg. 199).
Overall, Peterloo was, perhaps more than any other single event, Britain's political awakening of the working classes - that moment every modernising society has to go through when "the rising standards of education... made the people no longer prepared to accept oppression and suffering without hope or explanation; their turning now, as never before, towards a Parliament in which they would have a voice" (pg. 189). Not only the working classes, but also the middle and upper classes had a negative reaction to how Peterloo had been handled by the authorities and the government. The Whig Opposition in Parliament, whilst not supportive of the Radical aims, recognised the need for honest inquiry into the events. The press, not just the local newspapers (the Manchester Guardian, later to become the modern-day Guardian, was formed as a direct result of Peterloo) but also the London-based press such as The Times, reported the true facts of the case and called for transparency and for a sober redress of grievances. Referring to the political backlash against government suppression of the facts in favour of their own whitewashed version, Marlow asks "Since when had England been a country only of the authorized version?" (pg. 183). This natural reaction in the interests of fairness and decency showed that, whilst Britain may have been a country in need of reforming, it was also a country worth reforming.
Marlow splits the book into three clear segments: the causes and build-up to the massacre; an account of the incident itself; and the aftermath and repercussions. I found the first part rather hard to grasp, as Marlow has to provide a lot of detail in order to place Peterloo in its proper context. Broadly speaking, the motivations for the demonstration in St. Peter's Field were firstly, human rights in the form of parliamentary reform (Manchester had no representation in the House of Commons at this time) and secondly, economic grievances in this fledgling cotton town, partly due to a national downturn caused by the end of the Napoleonic Wars but not helped by obstructive new legislation such as the Corn Laws.
Once I got to grips with the book and the period it describes, I began to appreciate it more. It is particularly good at describing the growing pains of Manchester as it became a cotton metropolis during the Industrial Revolution, and how the paternalist Tory government in London failed to keep up with the times. One gains an appreciation of the hardships endured by the people of Manchester - exposed to poor working conditions and lacking any legal form of redress, as England did not even have universal suffrage at this time. Any political murmurs or even modest suggestions of reform were met with hysterical crackdown from the Establishment, still fearful of the memories of the French Revolution and its seditious demands for 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité'. Marlow asks "What did it mean to go on strike in the days before unions were legal and when all tangible power lay with the other side?" (pg. 67), and she provides a useful framework in which to ponder this question.
The second part of the book deals with the massacre itself and provides a clear account of how the events of the day transpired. What was most shocking to me - beyond the woeful decisions made by the magistrates - was the bloodlust evident not just in the yeomanry, but also the regular cavalry. The gathering on St. Peter's Field was seen not as it was - a peaceful protest attended by men, women and children - but as the first shot fired in a working-class insurrection, an English incarnation of the French Revolution which the loyalists and the Establishment feared. The cavalry's after-action reports refer to the cutting-down of unarmed men, women and children as part of a "battle" in which they "routed" the "Enemy". In the days after 16th August, this led to the massacre being given by the people of Manchester the ironic label of 'Peterloo', after the Battle of Waterloo which had been fought four years earlier. (One of the protesters, John Lees, had been a soldier at Waterloo, but was cut down in Manchester by a cavalryman's sabre and trampled underfoot. Despite serious injuries, he went to work the next day (!) but died after a prolonged period of agony some weeks later.) It shows how divided the country was at the time, caught between the paternalism of old England and the new Britain of the Industrial Revolution.
The final section of the book deals with the aftermath; the cowardly attempt at a cover-up by the magistrates who had ordered the cavalry in, and the backing given to them by the government. Unfortunately, this does not have a happy ending; the magistrates and others responsible were rewarded and promoted (one was appointed to the wealthy rectorship of Rochdale), whereas the prominent protesting reformers were jailed and heavily fined. As Marlow puts it, "if you ordered the murder of innocent people the reward was the rectorship of Rochdale, while if you fought for the rights of your fellow human beings the sentence was two years in Ilchester gaol" (pg. 195).
More importantly, there was no real reform of Parliament; in fact, the government successfully cracked down on the freedom of speech and assembly by passing legislation known as the 'Six Acts', and the Radical reformist movement died out within a year or two. But Marlow is correct to label Peterloo a 'watershed'. The political landscape changed slowly but surely as a result of the fallout from St. Peter's Field; the massacre was "a spur that set the horse if not exactly galloping at least trotting" (pg. 199).
Overall, Peterloo was, perhaps more than any other single event, Britain's political awakening of the working classes - that moment every modernising society has to go through when "the rising standards of education... made the people no longer prepared to accept oppression and suffering without hope or explanation; their turning now, as never before, towards a Parliament in which they would have a voice" (pg. 189). Not only the working classes, but also the middle and upper classes had a negative reaction to how Peterloo had been handled by the authorities and the government. The Whig Opposition in Parliament, whilst not supportive of the Radical aims, recognised the need for honest inquiry into the events. The press, not just the local newspapers (the Manchester Guardian, later to become the modern-day Guardian, was formed as a direct result of Peterloo) but also the London-based press such as The Times, reported the true facts of the case and called for transparency and for a sober redress of grievances. Referring to the political backlash against government suppression of the facts in favour of their own whitewashed version, Marlow asks "Since when had England been a country only of the authorized version?" (pg. 183). This natural reaction in the interests of fairness and decency showed that, whilst Britain may have been a country in need of reforming, it was also a country worth reforming.
April 24, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. The Regency period is one that I have always wanted to learn more about and the legal if darker side is always a grim but gripping read. I had encountered fiction based on this era with Bernard Cornwell's "Gallows Thief" and the Julian Rathbone's equally excellent novel "A very English Agent"
Marlow's book is actually 50 years old but still reads as modern. Her clear writing style is sympathetic to the faceless masses but never less than explanatory as to the possible motivations of the magistrates in Manchester and the Home Office under Lord Sidmouth on whose hands the bloodstains lie. Marlow follows the story, as much as is possible, of John Lees a man who survived Waterloo unscathed but didn't survive "Peterloo" She gives a highly readable account of a nation struggling to come to terms with a new economy and a government that wished to turn back time a generation because, although it was well aware of the problems and the reasons for them, it was incapable of devising any credible solutions other rhan "we must continue on the set path, it will all get better at some point." (I was struck several times by the irony of this one note Government and comparing it to the current British Government in 2019)
She follows the brief but bright burning sparking of Radicalism in Regency England, highlightings it's hopes, it's strengths and it's weaknesses. There is almost something pathetic about her recounting of the paranoid path that the oligarchic Magistrates in Manchester followed in the weeks running up to the tragedy. These were men who were totally out of their depth, but were too stubborn to accept help from others when offered, all the while writing desperate notes to Lord Sidmouth demanding the Government do more in terms of military support and draconian legislation.
The events of the day are well described and the aftermath covered in full. This is a small book but well worth a read.
Marlow's book is actually 50 years old but still reads as modern. Her clear writing style is sympathetic to the faceless masses but never less than explanatory as to the possible motivations of the magistrates in Manchester and the Home Office under Lord Sidmouth on whose hands the bloodstains lie. Marlow follows the story, as much as is possible, of John Lees a man who survived Waterloo unscathed but didn't survive "Peterloo" She gives a highly readable account of a nation struggling to come to terms with a new economy and a government that wished to turn back time a generation because, although it was well aware of the problems and the reasons for them, it was incapable of devising any credible solutions other rhan "we must continue on the set path, it will all get better at some point." (I was struck several times by the irony of this one note Government and comparing it to the current British Government in 2019)
She follows the brief but bright burning sparking of Radicalism in Regency England, highlightings it's hopes, it's strengths and it's weaknesses. There is almost something pathetic about her recounting of the paranoid path that the oligarchic Magistrates in Manchester followed in the weeks running up to the tragedy. These were men who were totally out of their depth, but were too stubborn to accept help from others when offered, all the while writing desperate notes to Lord Sidmouth demanding the Government do more in terms of military support and draconian legislation.
The events of the day are well described and the aftermath covered in full. This is a small book but well worth a read.
September 19, 2022
It took me a while to get into this book but once I did, I was hooked.
I knew nothing about this point in history. It wasn't something I had been taught at school.
I've learnt a lot about the ordinary working class people at a time of great change in our history. The author brings those people to life again as she takes you through the events leading up to and during the massacre.
A real eye opener for me. It's written with clarity and an empathy that makes you feel invested in the book.
I knew nothing about this point in history. It wasn't something I had been taught at school.
I've learnt a lot about the ordinary working class people at a time of great change in our history. The author brings those people to life again as she takes you through the events leading up to and during the massacre.
A real eye opener for me. It's written with clarity and an empathy that makes you feel invested in the book.
November 11, 2018
A very good book on Peterloo which Mike Leigh has supposedly helped him to inform his movie on the matter.
It's readable and the sense of personal interest and her own passion on the subject comes through.
It's readable and the sense of personal interest and her own passion on the subject comes through.
September 11, 2019
This is an in-depth account of Peterloo and the events leading up to the massacre. I studied Peterloo many years ago at school but this book added a lot more to my understanding of events.
January 8, 2019
This is an excellent depiction of the events and ideas leading to the tragedy of Peterloo. It centres on one of its most poignant victims, twenty-two year old John Lees, only the bare facts of whose life and death have come down to history.
We do know that he was, by a terrible irony, a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo. He is quoted as saying that he never felt so much in danger at Waterloo, as - to paraphrase - 'Then it was one to one, but this was pure murder'.
While, through good luck more than anything, only fifteen at most people were killed, many more were seriously injured. The books of the relief commitees indicate perhaps as many as 500, many of whom, in those days before free medical treatment in the UK did not seek 'official' medical help.
John Lees himself, the son of a small cotton manufacturer in Oldham outside Manchester, for all his terrible injuries, did not see a doctor until the next day. He lingered, obviously developing terrible infection, for three weeks.
The coroner's verdict over his death, and the attempts of local 'justices' to bring a verdict which vindicated the outrageous behaviour of the troops and the MYC on that fateful day, underpinned the efforts of the establishment to quash radical dissent and outraged popular feeling. Locals agreed that John Lees had been sabered to death by troops during a peaceful protest. The magistrates who had sent in the troops so unadvisedly wished to prove that they had been dispersing a potentially dangerous mass uprising.
Sadly, the Radicals, too tame in their response to the outrage, did not take advantage of the mood of the times. The leaders were imprisoned for calling a meeting which, in demanding universal suffrage, supposedly attempted to overthrow the constitution and the government forced through 'The Six Acts' which effectively muzzled dissent and outlawed public meetings. It was decades before these were repealed.
Peterloo led the poet Shelley to write those stirring lines in his 'Masque of Anarchy' (not in fact, published until the early 1830's, ten years after his own death):
'Rise like lions after slumber;
Rise in unvanquishable number;
Cast your chains to earth as dew,
Which on your sleep hath fallen on you,
Ye are many; they are few.'
We do know that he was, by a terrible irony, a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo. He is quoted as saying that he never felt so much in danger at Waterloo, as - to paraphrase - 'Then it was one to one, but this was pure murder'.
While, through good luck more than anything, only fifteen at most people were killed, many more were seriously injured. The books of the relief commitees indicate perhaps as many as 500, many of whom, in those days before free medical treatment in the UK did not seek 'official' medical help.
John Lees himself, the son of a small cotton manufacturer in Oldham outside Manchester, for all his terrible injuries, did not see a doctor until the next day. He lingered, obviously developing terrible infection, for three weeks.
The coroner's verdict over his death, and the attempts of local 'justices' to bring a verdict which vindicated the outrageous behaviour of the troops and the MYC on that fateful day, underpinned the efforts of the establishment to quash radical dissent and outraged popular feeling. Locals agreed that John Lees had been sabered to death by troops during a peaceful protest. The magistrates who had sent in the troops so unadvisedly wished to prove that they had been dispersing a potentially dangerous mass uprising.
Sadly, the Radicals, too tame in their response to the outrage, did not take advantage of the mood of the times. The leaders were imprisoned for calling a meeting which, in demanding universal suffrage, supposedly attempted to overthrow the constitution and the government forced through 'The Six Acts' which effectively muzzled dissent and outlawed public meetings. It was decades before these were repealed.
Peterloo led the poet Shelley to write those stirring lines in his 'Masque of Anarchy' (not in fact, published until the early 1830's, ten years after his own death):
'Rise like lions after slumber;
Rise in unvanquishable number;
Cast your chains to earth as dew,
Which on your sleep hath fallen on you,
Ye are many; they are few.'
July 21, 2014
A true account of the Peterloo Massacre which occurred to the backdrop of the Industrial revolution and the social injustices of the working class poor. The 'illegal' meeting calling for Parliamentary reform, took place at St. Peter's Field, Manchester, on August 16th, 1819. Between 60-80,000 people turned up on that fateful day. From the orders of the local magistrates, the cavalry was ordered to break up the meeting. With sabres drawn, they charged into the peaceful crowd leaving 15 people dead and 400–700 injured.
Illustrated with pictures of the protagonists, maps and relics of the massacre and eye witness testimony to the events of that day, make this book compelling reading of an event that deserves more prominence in British history.
Illustrated with pictures of the protagonists, maps and relics of the massacre and eye witness testimony to the events of that day, make this book compelling reading of an event that deserves more prominence in British history.
Want to Read
September 22, 2018Just started to read this, set on a train to Sheffield.
I really like the writing style and the author has set the screen well and the reader is left in no uncertain terms what the weavers and cotton workers lives were like.
I hope the the rest of the book continues in this vein.
I really like the writing style and the author has set the screen well and the reader is left in no uncertain terms what the weavers and cotton workers lives were like.
I hope the the rest of the book continues in this vein.
April 27, 2019
Highly recommended, especially for those who want to find out more about the event before seeing the film.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews