Riotous assemblies

"In this study, the history of eighteenth-century England is examined through the lens of popular disorder. Focusing upon both the more closely-studied forms of protest, such as food riots, industrial disorders, and political disturbances, and much less well-understood occasions of popular disorder, such as tax riots, turnpike riots, riots against the establishment of the militia, and religious riots, Riotous Assemblies re-engages the study of riot within a wider interpretation of the forces - social, economic, and political - which were transforming society. Based upon numerous detailed case studies and drawing upon the most recent research, the book extends the focus of earlier studies of protest and locates the origins of disorder within the concept of constitutionalism and the free-born Englishman."--book jacket.