The English Rebels

From the earliest recorded rebellion in 1194 to the twentieth century, the English commoner has been fighting privilege and wealth. Often defeated, their struggle for a "New Jerusalem", or the "Digger Republic", or the "Co-operative Commonwealth", drew successive generations of working people into new battles for justice and equality. Written in a style which makes history exciting and relevant, and illustrated with contemporary engravings, prints and photographs, Charles Poulsen has traced this radical tradition, which is sometimes obscured but generally ignored. From the Peasants' Revolt to Wycliffe, the Lollards, Jack Cade, the Pilgrimage ofGrace , Kett's Rebellion, the English Revolution, the Levellers, the Diggers, Monmouth's Rebellion, Tom Paine, the "English Jacobins", the Naval Mutinies, King Ludd, Captain Swing, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, Chartism, and the Suffragettes, John Ball's sermon on Corpus Christi Day, 1381, has rung across six centuries: When Adam delved and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman? The English Rebels is certainly not a history of kings and queens. It is a history alive with struggle, uncovering an everpresent spirit of revolt which is the real heritage of the English people.