The Last Rising

The Chartist movement is a core area of study in many history syllabuses. This book details the last of the Chartist insurrections in 1839. It looks at the full story of the rising, its origins and its aftermath, and analyzesthe profound impact of armed insurrectionon the social and political climate of the period. When the people of the coalfield took up the banner of Chartism, that movement became a political crusade. The text reveals the that several revolutionary schemeswere considered in the valleys, and establishes links with militants in other parts of Britain. It considers the response of the government and propertied classes - from the Special Commission that condemned three of the leaders to death, to the new interest in paternalism and the political concessions that were designed to prevent its recurrence. The author concludes that contempories were right to regard the rising as one of the most important turning points in Welsh and British social history.

"Much of the value of the book lies in its brilliant analysis of the socio-economic structure of the coalfield, and of its distinctive political tradition ... This splendid, humane book makes us reflect anew, both on Chartism more generally and on Welsh radicalism in particular." -Times Literary Supplement