Peterloo: The Story of the Manchester Massacre - Hardcover

Riding, Jacqueline

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1786695839 ISBN 13: 9781786695833

Publisher: Head of Zeus, 2019

Synopsis

Manchester, August 1819: 60,000 people had gathered in the cause of parliamentary reform. To those defending the status quo, the vote was not a universal right, but a privilege of wealth and land ownership. To radical reformers the fundamental overhaul of a corrupt system was long overdue. The people had come to hear one such reformer, Henry Hunt, from all over Lancashire, walking to the sound of hymns and folk songs. By the end of the day fifteen of them, including two women and a child, were dead or mortally wounded, and 650 injured, hacked down by drunken yeomanry after local magistrates panicked at the scale of the meeting. The British state, four years after defeating the 'tyrant' Bonaparte at Waterloo, had turned its forces against its own people, as they peaceably exercised their liberties.

Jacqueline Riding's compelling book ties in to Mike Leigh's forthcoming film Peterloo, for which the author was historical advisor, in advance of the bicentenary of Peterloo in 2019.

About this title

About the Author

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: 1786695839
• ISBN 13: 9781786695833
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400