Research Catalog

John Wilkes : a friend to liberty

Title: John Wilkes : a friend to liberty / Peter D.G. Thomas.
Author: Thomas, Peter David Garner.
Publication: Oxford : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1996.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	DA512.W6 T55 1996	Off-site

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Details

Description

vi, 280 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

Often deemed the founder of British radicalism, John Wilkes (1725-1797) had a shattering impact on the politics of his time. His audacity in challenging government authority was matched by skill and determination in attaining his objectives: the freedom of the press to criticize ministers and report Parliament; enhanced security for individuals and their property from arbitrary arrest and seizure; and the rights of electors.
That he was a political maverick, of witty and wicked reputation, has led historians to underestimate him, and this is the first researched biography since 1917. Contemporaries appreciated his achievements more that posterity, one obituarist writing that 'his name will be connected with our history'.
. In this fascinating and original biography, Peter Thomas provides an intriguing portrait of the man George III referred to as 'that Devil Wilkes'.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [221]-227) and index.

Contents

1. Youth and Pleasure, 1725-1761 -- 2. Gadfly of Government, 1761-1763 -- 3. The Case of North Briton, Number Forty-Five -- 4. French Leave, 1763-1768 -- 5. Election for Middlesex, 1768 -- 6. Expulsion from Middlesex, 1769 -- 7. The Bill of Rights Society, 1769-1771 -- 8. The Reporting of Parliamentary Debates: The Wilkes Coup of 1771 -- 9. City Politician, 1771-1775 -- 10. Wilkes and America -- 11. Parliamentary Politicians, 1774-1790 -- 12. Work and Leisure, 1776-1797 -- 13. Radical or Rascal.

ISBN

0198205449

LCCN

95036715

OCLC

ocm32924057

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries