The first part explores the way the British people could influence existing political institutions or could exploit their existing powers, by looking at the role of the people in parliamentary elections, in a wide range of pressure groups, in their local urban communities, and in popular demonstrations.

Preface - Introduction - PART 1: THE PEOPLE IN POLITICS - The People and Parliamentary Elections - Vested Interests and Pressure Groups - Politics in the Urban Community - The Politics of the Crowd - PART 2: THE POLITICISATION OF THE PEOPLE - The Debate on British Liberties and Natural Rights - Radical Ideas and Popular Politics before Wilkes - Radicals and Reformers in the Later Eighteenth Century - Popular Conservatism and Militant Loyalism - List of Abbreviations - Notes - Index

'This adjudication by H.T. Dickinson is fair-minded and valuable...he has given us a remarkably informed, cogent and balanced survey.' - John Cannon, History 'We need to understand the mentality, as well as the behaviour, of the lower orders in politics. Both have been magisterially surveyed in... The Politics of the People in Eighteenth-Century Britain...With a succinctness that will be the despair of those who themselves have had to write lectures on this subject, Dickinson draws together the results of extensive modern research into all aspects of popular politics.' - Historian 'A sure-footed guide to the subject which is a model of clarity and lucid exposition, this is a work not just for the university library, but for the bookshelves of all students of the eighteenth century.' - Martin Fitzpatrick, University of Wales 'Articulate and readable, with a full index and extensive footnotes, this grand synthesis belongs in every British history collection.' - R. Breihan, Choice