Rural Rides
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Product Description
Travelling on horseback through southern England in the early 19th century, William Cobbett provides evocative and accurate descriptions of the countryside, colourful accounts of his encounters with labourers, and indignant outbursts at the encroaching cities and the sufferings of the exploited poor. Ian Dyck's new edition places these lively accounts of rural life in the context of Cobbett's political and social beliefs and reveals the volume as his platform for rural radical reform.
From the Back Cover
Son of an innkeeper, former soldier, champion of the working class, early anti-corporate activist, and future Member of Parliament-Will Cobbett's unique eye offers us a perspective on 19th-century England we won't find anywhere else. Cobbett roamed Southern England on horseback in the years between 1821 and 1832, gathering his "economical and political observations relative to matters applicable to, and illustrated by, the state of" that charming part of the world, one in the throes of massive change in the wake of the Industrial Revolution.
This is an extraordinary record of a world long gone, one very little documented when it existed, by a voice who was far ahead of his time.
--This text refers to an alternate
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First Sentence
This morning I set off, in rather a drizzling rain, from Kensington, on horse-back, accompanied by my son James,1 with an intention of going to Uphusband, near Andover, which is situated in the North West corner of Hampshire. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
This morning I set off, in rather a drizzling rain, from Kensington, on horse-back, accompanied by my son James,1 with an intention of going to Uphusband, near Andover, which is situated in the North West corner of Hampshire. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is a wonderful book, written by a man whose passions are plain for all to see. His obvious love for the English countryside and the people who work it are equalled only by his bitter contempt for those who rule. The descriptions of the places he visits are beautifully observed and have you fumbling for your roadmap with an itching desire to go and see them for yourself. He views the land he passes through farmers eyes, and the work is somehow elevated by this injection of knowledge and experience. People with radical tendencies will sympathise with much of the political comment that he makes and wonder if he would think much has changed in the almost two hundred years that has elapsed since he wrote this book. I would like to have seen more editorial explanations of many of the terms and expressions he uses which are now out of use.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
We think that recent decades have seen the greatest possible changes that mankind could possibly go through. We're wrong.
William Cobbett lived through an era that was breathtaking in the change that it experienced. The agrarian economy that had sustained the country for centuries was being pushed aside by the industrial revolution, indeed, agriculture was about to experience deep decline. In politics, the loss of the American colonies - the first step in the end of the Empire - still haunted the country. The age of patrician rule was about to yield - if no more than that - with the Reform Act of 1832.
Cobbett exemplifies the contradictions of this age - passionately opposed to 'modern' economics, yet deriding of the 'old ways', patrician yet a powerful advocate of the enhanced franchise.
Cobbett gives us a record of an important turning point in our country's history and sheds light upon the causes and impacts of this period of change. He offers us lessons that may be of equal relevance in our own period of immense change.
Apart from that, Cobbett paints us a picture of a landscape that is, on the one hand, so very familiar to us, but on the other, totally alien.
However, the editorial contribution of this version of his work is poor. That anyone in the early 21st century should understand the intricacies of early 19th century politics is asking too much, and the vital explanation and understanding that the average paperback reader needs is entirely missing.
William Cobbett lived through an era that was breathtaking in the change that it experienced. The agrarian economy that had sustained the country for centuries was being pushed aside by the industrial revolution, indeed, agriculture was about to experience deep decline. In politics, the loss of the American colonies - the first step in the end of the Empire - still haunted the country. The age of patrician rule was about to yield - if no more than that - with the Reform Act of 1832.
Cobbett exemplifies the contradictions of this age - passionately opposed to 'modern' economics, yet deriding of the 'old ways', patrician yet a powerful advocate of the enhanced franchise.
Cobbett gives us a record of an important turning point in our country's history and sheds light upon the causes and impacts of this period of change. He offers us lessons that may be of equal relevance in our own period of immense change.
Apart from that, Cobbett paints us a picture of a landscape that is, on the one hand, so very familiar to us, but on the other, totally alien.
However, the editorial contribution of this version of his work is poor. That anyone in the early 21st century should understand the intricacies of early 19th century politics is asking too much, and the vital explanation and understanding that the average paperback reader needs is entirely missing.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For readers interested in the minutiae of rural life and the working and living conditions of the rural agricultural labourers around the time of the Industrial Revolution this book is a must. It influenced many later socialist thinkers including Karl Marx. Written by William Cobbett, himself born to working on the land as a humble bird scarer then a ploughboy, he later rose to prominence as an MP. The book provides a detailed and balanced account of the working poor in 19th Century England. The book is readable and the English refreshingly clear for works of this period, but I would not describe it as a page turner. I may be biassed however, since I am a descendent of William Cobbett!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
xxx
content was as expected but quality of book was not very good. first 100 pages were not properly inserted, the text sloping across the page and 1 page became detached.
Published 7 days ago by jofre
COUNTRYFILE
Saw this on BBC1 Countryfile and decided to get the free download. Have not read it yet but I am looking forward to it.
Published 1 month ago by Portlander
Outstanding for a free work
A strange, but more or less functional table of contents puts this well above the average free Kindle book. I see no reason to go for one of the paid-for editions.
Published 10 months ago by R. M. M.
Book review
As a student of this period of history an invaluable book. Also a good read.
Published on 8 April 2009 by Mr. M. Lawrence
VERY political writing
This book got a bit too political for my tastes. It's worth reading from an academic point of view, but I don't think it's the sort of book that you take with you on your holiday... Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2003
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