A tumultuous year It is 1536, and the kingdom of Henry VIII is in turmoil. King Henrys first wife, Catherine and his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy, have died suspiciously. Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, has been executed, and he has married his third wife, Jane Seymour, only a fortnight later. Meanwhile, Chancellor Lord Cromwell is dissolving monasteries and abbeys, trampling religious traditions, and unsettling the community. Rumours are circulating that Cromwell is about to steal the Church silverware as well, and Nicholas Meltona shoemaker from the town of Louthand his friends decide they have had enough. Determined to protect the peoples treasure from royal coffers, Melton and his friends take the keys of the church of Saint James from its reluctant churchwardens. After they secure the building and lock away the towns treasure to keep it safe, their protest quickly gets out of hand, disturbing the peace of the kingdom. Rather than listen to his subjects, King Henry behaves like a tyrant, threatening them with condign punishment. So, the simple act of protecting community treasure turns into a widespread rebellion as Melton, now known throughout the land as Captain Cobbler, risks everything Captain Cobbler shares the tale of a Lincolnshire shoemaker as he matures from boyhood to adulthood, and now challenges the might of a tyrant king.

The classic social history of the Great English Agricultural Uprising of 1830, from one of the greatest historians of our age. For generation upon generation, the English farm laborer lived in poverty and degradation. With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces came into play—and when capitalism swept from the cities into the countryside, tensions reached the breaking point. From 1830 on, a series of revolts, known as the “Swing,” shook England to its core. Here is the background of that upheaval, from its rise to its fall, and the people who tried to change their world. A masterpiece of British history.

Operating principally from original sources, it revises the standard work of the Dodds and appraises the research produced in the subject over the last thirty years.