Table of Contents

"An engine of political warfare"; a nation of repealers - the League in the English provinces and Scotland; West Britons - the League in Wales and Ireland; the organ of veneration - the League and religion; "the petticoat politicians of Manchester" - women and the League; the people's grain - the League and the working class; "a guerrilla warfare" - the League and Parliament; theatres of discussion -League meetings and rituals; "the progeny of Mammon" - a biographical analysis of the Manchester Anti-Corn Law Association Council, 1839-40; conclusion - "a long and doubtful road".

About the Author

Paul A. Pickering is postdoctoral fellow at the Reseach School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. Alex Tyrrell is senior lecturer at LaTrobe Univeristy. Alex Tyrrell is senior lecturer at LaTrobe Univeristy.

Reviews

."..the authors capture and convey the vitality of the Anti Corn Law League and make it come alive...The valuable new perspectives afforded by The People's Bread reflect both the strengths and some of the weaknesses of recent historical methodologies." Albion

"This is an important and significant book It represents a considerable advance on existing knowledge of the Anti-Corn Law League (ACLL) .Pickering and Tyrrell lead us through and beyond these doorways in a vivid and skillful exploration of the cultural and political baggage of ACLL supporters. The result is a volume that extends and challenges our knowledge of the League and its times .One reason why modern histories of this body have been so thin on the ground has probably derived from an abiding perception that it was worthy but dull. The authors of the present volume gleefully demolish this cliche .at the heart of the book lies a vivid account of the ACLL as political theatre, which skillfully explores the iconography and rituals of its lectures, dinners, bazaars and conferences .In its treatment of women this book constitutes a massive advance on existing knowledge Pickering and Tyrrell open up new ways of seeing not just the ACLL but also the cultural milieu of the early Victorian middle class." -Albion, June 2000