The Levellers

"The Levellers" burst onto the historical, political and legal scene during the English Civil War of 1641-6, and although their movement officially lasted only a few years, their principles have had an enormous influence on subsequent British and Western history. The three central figures in the movement, Richard Overton, William Walwyn and John Lilburne were motivated mainly by a desire for religious toleration, and withstood repeated imprisonments, public condemnations and threats on their lives for defending their views. What they produced during those tumultuous years - in dozens of pamphlets, tracts and briefs - was the beginnings of a vision of limited government that subsequent generations of "liberals" would find rich with legal and philosophical implications. Much has been written about the Levellers, but few of their works have been in print. This set contains all the central writings of Overton, Walwyn and Lilburne, supplemented by a generous selection of responses, criticisms and defences from other contemporary sources.
Among the works included are Overton's "Arrow Against All Tyrants" (1646) and "Agreement of the Free People of England" (1649); Walwyn's "England's Lamentable Slaverie" (1645), "Tolleration Justified, Persecution Condemn'd" (1646) and Walwyn's "Just Defence" (1649); and Lilburne's "England's Birthright Justified" (1643), "Humble Petition" (1648), "Englands New Chains Discovered" (1649) and "Just Defence of John Lilburne" (1653). Also included are many responses to the Levellers such as the Putney Debates of 1647, Henry Ireton's "A Declaration or Representation" (1647), and "Walwyn's Wiles" (1649). This set should be of value to historians of the English Civil War, of the Levellers, and of early religious toleration movements, as well as to all those interested in tracing the development of the British classical liberal tradition.