Captain Swing
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: G. Jacket: N/A (paperback, no dust jacket). Page Condition: Yellowed. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Good, spine intact. Cover: Black with minor surface wear; appears unread.
Captain Swing chronicles one of the most dramatic episodes of rural unrest in English history — the Swing Riots of 1830, when desperate agricultural labourers across southern England rose up against the introduction of threshing machines and the brutal conditions of rural poverty. Written with the authority of two of the twentieth century's foremost social historians, the book uncovers the economic and social forces that drove ordinary men to arson, machine-breaking, and collective action under the mysterious banner of the mythical Captain Swing. Hobsbawm and Rudé present a meticulously researched account that reconstructs the geography, sociology, and human drama of the revolt county by county, drawing on court records, newspapers, and parish documents. The tone is rigorous yet deeply sympathetic, illuminating how the rioters were not criminals but rather working people pushed to the edge by an indifferent ruling class. A landmark work of history from below, it remains essential reading for anyone interested in labour history, rural England, and the roots of social protest.
Author: E. J. Hobsbawm / George Rudé
Format: Paperback
Published: 1979, Penguin
Genre: British & Irish history
Condition remarks:
Condition: G. Jacket: N/A (paperback, no dust jacket). Page Condition: Yellowed. Markings: No markings. Binding condition: Good, spine intact. Cover: Black with minor surface wear; appears unread.
Captain Swing chronicles one of the most dramatic episodes of rural unrest in English history — the Swing Riots of 1830, when desperate agricultural labourers across southern England rose up against the introduction of threshing machines and the brutal conditions of rural poverty. Written with the authority of two of the twentieth century's foremost social historians, the book uncovers the economic and social forces that drove ordinary men to arson, machine-breaking, and collective action under the mysterious banner of the mythical Captain Swing. Hobsbawm and Rudé present a meticulously researched account that reconstructs the geography, sociology, and human drama of the revolt county by county, drawing on court records, newspapers, and parish documents. The tone is rigorous yet deeply sympathetic, illuminating how the rioters were not criminals but rather working people pushed to the edge by an indifferent ruling class. A landmark work of history from below, it remains essential reading for anyone interested in labour history, rural England, and the roots of social protest.