This piece was originally posted on the Society for the Study of Labour History's blog. Far from being ‘ruffians officered by gentlemen’, the British army of the nineteenth century was made up of a typical cross-section of working-class men whose military lives mirrored those of the civilian working class, says Nick Mansfield, author of Soldiers as … Continue reading
Nick Mansfield on the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre
2019 marks the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, when pro-democracy campaigners were violently dispersed by soldiers, with 18 dead and many hundreds injured. The name 'Peterloo' was adopted by critics of the attack, as a deliberate and ironic comparison with Wellington's glorious victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This key … Continue reading
Liverpool University Press Blog 