Literature and Society in Eighteenth-Century England: Ideology, Politics and Culture, 1680-1820

This is a broad-ranging study on the 18th century, using a variety of contemporary literary texts as historical evidence to explain the dominant ideologies and attitudes of the time and considering the implications on policy of an increasingly news-conscious and articulate society. Evidence examined ranges beyond the strictly literary to include newspapers, pamphlets and prints and it demonstrates how the printed word does not merely reflect the changing ideologies of the time, but also shapes them.