The period from 1688-1820 was marked throughout with riots and rebellions, seditions and strikes, as the lower classes rebelled against the state bias towards the interests of higher social groups. Drawing on recent work on demography, labor, and law, this readable history of the period focuses on the experience of the eighty percent of the population who made up England's "lower orders." Hay and Rogers provide fresh insights into food shortages, changes in poor relief, use of the criminal law, and the shifts in social power caused by industrialization that would bring about the birth of working-class radicalism.

Eighteenth-Century English Society: Shuttles and Swords (OPUS)

History

Hay, Douglas

Rogers, Nicholas

Europe

Oxford University Press

Boasting a rich, complex history rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a blend of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise. In this colorful history, Nicholas Rogers takes a lively, entertaining look at the cultural origins and development of one of the most popular holidays of the year. Drawing on a fascinating array of sources, from classical history to Hollywood films, Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer's end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and '80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down, and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme. He examines how this very license has prompted censure by the religious Right, occasional outrage from law enforcement officials, and appropriation by Left-leaning political groups. Engagingly written and based on extensive research, Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night

Religion & Spirituality

Boasting a rich, complex history rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a blend of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise. In this colorful history, Nicholas Rogers takes a lively, entertaining look at the cultural origins and development of one of the most popular holidays of the year. Drawing on a fascinating array of sources, from classical history to Hollywood films, Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer's end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and '80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down, and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme. He examines how this very license has prompted censure by the religious Right, occasional outrage from law enforcement officials, and appropriation by Left-leaning political groups. Engagingly written and based on extensive research, Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.

Crowds have long been a telling feature of the historical landscape. Here, Rogers examines the changing role and character of crowds in Georgian politics through an investigation of some of the major crowd interventions in the years 1714 to 1821. He shows how the topsy-turvy interventions of the Jacobite era gave way to the more disciplined parades of Hanoverian England, a transition shaped by the effects of war, revolution, and the expansion of the state and the market. These changes unsettled the existing relationship between crowds and authority, raising issues of citizenship, class, and gender that fostered the emergence of a progressive mass platform. On this platform, radical men (and, more ambiguously, women) staked out new demands for political power and recognition. This is an original, fascinating study that shows us how and why Hanoverian crowds were more than dissonant voices on the margins--they were an integral part of 18th-century politics.

Crowds, Culture, and Politics in Georgian Britain

Clarendon Press

This is the first major study of urban politics in the early Hanoverian era. Rogers challenges the view that the political nation was of minimal significance, and highlights the critical contribution of larger towns to the agitations that beset Walpole and swept Pitt to power. He shows, through a study of Bristol, Norwich, and London, the relative strength of opposition sentiment, the persistence of local antagonisms, and the interplay of economic interest and political clientage. Offering a challenging reinterpretation of the role of the crowd in urban politics, Whigs and Cities sheds new light on the dynamics of urban political culture in the 18th century.

Whigs and Cities: Popular Politics in the Age of Walpole and Pitt

Business & Money

International

After the end of the War of Austrian Succession in 1748, thousands of unemployed and sometimes unemployable soldiers and seamen found themselves on the streets of London ready to roister the town and steal when necessary. In this fascinating book Nicholas Rogers explores the moral panic associated with this rapid demobilization. 
Through interlocking stories of duels, highway robberies, smuggling, riots, binge drinking, and even two earthquakes, Rogers captures the anxieties of a half-decade and assesses the social reforms contemporaries framed and imagined to deal with the crisis. He argues that in addressing these events, contemporaries not only endorsed the traditional sanction of public executions, but wrestled with the problem of expanding the parameters of government to include practices and institutions we now regard as commonplace: censuses, the regularization of marriage through uniform methods of registration, penitentiaries and police forces.

Mayhem: Post-War Crime and Violence in Britain, 1748-53 (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History)

Yale University Press

The press gang, and its forcible recruitment of sailors to man the Royal Navy in times of war, acquired notoriety for depriving men of their liberty and carrying them away to a harsh life at sea, sometimes for years at a time. Nicholas Rogers explains exactly how the press gang worked, whom it was aimed at and how successful it was in achieving its ends. He also shows the limits to its operations and the press gang's need for cooperation from local authorities, who were by no means prepared to support it.Written by an expert in the social history of eighteenth-century Britain, it is both well-researched and highly readable.

The Press Gang: Naval Impressment and its opponents in Georgian Britain

Bloomsbury Academic

The press gang, and its forcible recruitment of sailors to man the Royal Navy in times of war, acquired notoriety for depriving men of their liberty and carrying them away to a harsh life at sea, sometimes for years at a time. Nicholas Rogers explains exactly how the press gang worked, whom it was aimed at and how successful it was in achieving its ends. He also shows the limits to its operations and the press gang's need for cooperation from local authorities, who were by no means prepared to support it. Written by an expert in the social history of eighteenth-century Britain, it is both well-researched and highly readable.

Press Gang: Naval Impressment and Its Opponents in Georgian Britain

Continnuum-3PL

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rogers, Nicholas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Rogers, Nicholas

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Rogers, Nicholas. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Eighteenth-Century English Society: Shuttles and Swords (OPUS)

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night

Crowds, Culture, and Politics in Georgian Britain

Whigs and Cities: Popular Politics in the Age of Walpole and Pitt

Mayhem: Post-War Crime and Violence in Britain, 1748-53 (The Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History)

The Press Gang: Naval Impressment and its opponents in Georgian Britain

Press Gang: Naval Impressment and Its Opponents in Georgian Britain