This volume offers a reappraisal of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers before their emergence as major poets. Updated, revised, and with new manuscript material, this expanded new edition responds to the most significant critical work on Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers in the three decades since the book first appeared. Fresh material is drawn from newspapers and printed sources; the poetry of 1798 is given more detailed attention, and the critical debate surrounding new historicism is freshly appraised. A new introduction reflects on how the book was originally researched, offers new insights into the notorious Leonard Bourdon killings of 1793, and revisits John Thelwall's predicament in 1798. University politics, radical dissent, and first-hand experiences of Revolutionary France form the substance of the opening chapters. Wordsworth's and Coleridge's relations with William Godwin and John Thelwall are tracked in detail, and both poets are shown to have been closely connected with the London Corresponding Society. Godwin's diaries, now accessible in electronic form, have been drawn upon extensively to supplement the narrative of his intellectual influence. Offering a comparative perspective on the poets and their contemporaries, the book investigates the ways in which 1790s radicals coped with personal crisis, arrests, trumped-up charges, and prosecutions. Some fled the country, becoming refugees; others went underground, hiding away as inner emigres. Against that backdrop, Wordsworth and Coleridge opted for a different revolution: they wrote poems that would change the way people thought.

About the Author
Nicholas Roe is Wardlaw Professor of English Literature, University of St Andrews.

Reviews
Roe captures the "unity and revolutionary idealism" that was brimming over during the 1790s with a scholarly gift for bringing together evidence drawn from a wide range of sources. His research is so exacting that his study would be enlightening to a political historian as well as a literary critic. It was a momentous period, one that did indeed unite disparate groups for a while, as Wordsworth writes: "How bright a face is worn when joy of one / is joy of tens of millions". Feelings would change, but, as Roe demonstrates, that radical ardour left a hugely significant impact on English poetry. * Maria Taylor, Time Literary Supplement *
Review from previous edition Brings together in one place much scattered information and a few new details from Godwin's papers . . . Roe's research has been strenuous, his attention to detail earnest, and his book will be useful. * E.P. Thompson, London Review of Books *
The London revolutionary circles in which both men moved are brilliantly described and analysed. The roles played by John Thelwall and William Godwin are investigated with a new insight. * Michael Foot, The Guardian *
The quality of Roe's research is without doubt impeccable. New manuscript sources have been discovered . . . the book fills a conspicuous gap. * Joseph Bristow, Times Higher Education Supplement *
A close and sophisticated study . . . Roe's account is outstanding . . . a major contribution to scholarly studies of the period. * J.D. Gutteridge, Notes and Queries *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198818113
Author Nicholas Roe
Format Hardback
Page Count 346
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 222mm * 148mm * 26mm