Publisher's Synopsis
This book traces the complex pattern of working-class radical endeavour in the West Riding textile district during the years from 1829 to 1839. It focuses in particular on questions of local leadership and organisation and stresses the importance of these elements to early working-class movements. The study assesses the significance of the trade union, popular radical, early co-operative and factory reform agitations of the late 1820s and early 1830s in shaping leadership cadres and organisational structures. Whilst building on traditional ideas and agitational tactics, the early Chartists increasingly articulated an assertive, class-conscious alternative to the widely-perceived evils of unregulated competitive industry and unrepresentative, uncaring government...
