William Cobbett, the Press and Rural England ― Radicalism and the Fourth Estate, 1792-1835

William Cobbett, the Press and Rural England offers a thorough re-appraisal of the work of William Cobbett (1763-1835), examining his pioneering journalism, identification with rural England and engagement with contemporary debates. It offers a new interpretation of Cobbett as a Burkean radical, whose work cuts across the 'revolution controversy' of the 1790s and combines Tom Paine's common sense and transatlantic radicalism with Edmund Burke's emphasis on tradition, patriotism and the domestic affections. To Hazlitt, Cobbett came to represent 'a kind of fourth estate in the politics of the country', becoming the virtual embodiment of both rural England and the campaign for parliamentary reform. This study draws on Cobbett's published writings and unpublished correspondence to show how he achieved this status. Individual chapters focus on his writings as Peter Porcupine, publication of parliamentary debates, imprisonment in Newgate, exile on Long Island, role in the Queen Caroline affair, Rural Rides, his prosecution after the Captain Swing riots and his wide-ranging legacies.

James Grande is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at King's College London, UK. He completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Oxford and worked as a research assistant on the digital edition of William Godwin's diary (2010). He is one of the editors of The Opinions of William Cobbett (2013).