The Pamphleteers: The Birth of Journalism, Emergence of the Press & the Fourth Estate - Hardcover

James A. Oliver

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0955183456 ISBN 13: 9780955183454

Publisher: Information Architects, 2010

Synopsis

The Pamphleteers is an investigation of the early journalism. In an era long before the advent of the periodical press, the pamphleteers were the world's proto-journalists. As a paper platform for a spectrum of religious fanatics, eccentrics, social commentators, and satirists, the pamphlet evolved as a weapon of propaganda (forged between the fledgling press and Star Chamber censorship) for powerful vested interest groups, political parties, governments - and revolutionists. The Guttenberg revolution of the Renaissance provided the spark and the Reformation of the sixteenth century the explosive fuel for the pamphleteering phenomenon. As the pamphlet form took root, then so English prose emerged from its antique form with an extraordinary rash of stylistic innovations to embrace such unlikely postures as subversive fulmination, cod polemic, ferocious satire, and manifesto. In times of religious ferment, civil war, colonial unrest and revolution, such texts - risky or even dangerous to publish - were often the product of secret presses and anonymous authors. At the other exposure, there were those who encountered that risk - and found notoriety or lasting fame along the way. In the hands of a select few, the pamphlet reached a level of high achievement beyond any ordinary Grub Street reckoning. As a special focus, the narrative reveals how the early journalists were driven not so much by scandal and sensationalism at home and abroad but by major historical events on the world stage: the Reformation, the English Revolution, the War of the Spanish Succession, and the revolutions in America and in France. Along a mighty timeline, these were the great political tides that led to the birth of journalism, the periodical press, and the emergence of the fourth estate. In this brief survey, the author includes vignettes on seven pamphleteers: Robert Greene, Thomas Nashe, Thomas Dekker, John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and culminating with the high achievement of Tom Paine. The Pamphleteers is itself a pamphlet for the digital age.

About this title

About the Author:

James A. Oliver is an international writer, editor and consultant based in Devon. He is the author of A Footprint in the Sand, an epic political comedy inspired by a special assignment at the end of the Cold War, and The Anarchist's Arms - a stage play set in near-future London. In 2006, The Bering Strait Crossing: A 21st century frontier was published worldwide. In April 2007, James Oliver travelled to Moscow with US associates at the invitation of the Russian Academy of Sciences to discuss the concept known as World Link. By 2009, these materials had formed the basis for a Discovery Channel documentary on the theme. The following year, the Beringia concept was awarded the Grand Prix for innovation at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. From 2007-2009, James Oliver lived on the IÎe Saint Louis in Paris, where he worked as a writer and editor with the Single European Sky (SES) project. On his return to England, he developed the script for The Pamphleteers: The Birth of Journalism, Emergence of the Press & the Fourth Estate (2010). Strait of Gibraltar: formation to the twenty first century (2017) is the second part of the trilogy Where Continents Meet. At present, he is based at a remote location for his research on the flagship essays Isle of Dogs and A Freshwater Assignment. James Oliver is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

About this edition

• Publisher: Information Architects
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0955183456
• ISBN 13: 9780955183454
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 184