The late 1830s in Wales were years of unprecedented popular protest with Chartism attracting mass support and climaxing in the dramatic Newport Rising of November 1839. Subsequently, reformers urged legal, peaceful agitation for reform, and the exhortation `Organise! Organise! Organise!' was a common one. This book brings new research to bear on the character, growth and operation of crusading pressure groups and reform movements in Wales during the following half-century. The transformation and upheaval in much of Welsh life at this time was accompanied by decisive political development and a florescence of extra- parliamentary agitation. Key campaigns of this period are considered in depth, most notably those for parliamentary reform and Nonconformist radicalism, but also the movements for repeal of the Corn Laws, for trade unions and greater political representation for labour, and for women's rights. The author considers the work of all these pressure groups in the context of the changing nature of Victorian society in Wales and explores the interrelationship between the groups.
`This book will stimulate teaching and research. It is one of the best and most important books of Welsh history that I have been privileged to read. Some of the material, such as that on female politics, popular educational initiatives, and the Social Democratic Federation, can be found nowhere else, and it is all bought together with great skill and obvious pleasure.' (Planet)
`...this informative and clearly written book serves as an excellent introduction to the history of Welsh radical politics.' (Labour History Review)
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