Publisher's Synopsis
The outbreaks of collective violence arising from the tensions existing within society have long been themes in the study of British social history. Detailed studies abound-on the Levellers, the Diggers, fen rioters, food rioters, machinery riots, tithe riots, turnpike riots and so on. This book breaks new ground in that it attempts to survey the whole range of these rural riots, to compare and contrast them, and to draw general conclusions.
Seventy-five maps are included in this volume, each with an accompanying commentary written by an authority on the particular subject. Taken together, the maps show how the distribution of protest changed over time, how particular forms of protest-riots connected with land, with food and with labor-altered as Britain developed from a predominantly feudal to a predominantly capitalist society.
