Britain's defeat of Napoleon is one the great accomplishments in our history. And yet it was by no means certain that Britain itself would survive the revolutionary fervour of the age; let alone emerge victorious from such a vast conflict. From the late 1790s; the country was stricken by naval mutinies; rebellion in Ireland; and riots born of hunger; poverty and grinding injustice. As the new century opened; with republican graffiti on the walls of the cities; and revolutionary secret societies reportedly widespread; King George III only narrowly escaped assassination. Jacobin forces seemed to threaten a dissolution of the social order. Above all; the threat of French invasion was ever-present. Yet; despite all this; and new threats from royal madness and rampant corruption; Britain did not become a revolutionary republic. Her elites proved remarkably resilient; and drew on the power of an already-global empire to find the strength to defeat Napoleon abroad; and continued popular unrest at home. In this brilliant; sweeping history of the period; David Andress fuses two hitherto separate historical perspectives - the military and the social - to provide a vivid portrait of the age. From the conditions of warfare faced by the British soldier and the great battles in which they fought; to the literary and artistic culture of the time; The Savage Storm is at once a searing narrative of dramatic events and an important reassessment of one of the most significant turning points in our history.
#1379305 in Books Palgrave Macmillan 2006-10-27 2006-10-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x .56 x 5.50l; .65 #File Name: 1403974721254 pages
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