MARTYN J. POWELL is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK. He has published widely on eighteenth-century Britain and Ireland. His first book Britain and Ireland in the Eighteenth-Century Crisis of Empire was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2003.

Abbreviations Acknowledgements PART 1: INTRODUCTION PART 2: THE POLITICS OF FOOD AND ALCOHOL Politics and Drink Toasting Food, Drink and National Stereotypes Consumption and the 'Body' Politics Conclusion PART 3: THE POLITICS OF LUXURY The Luxury Debate English and Foreign Goods Women and Consumer Items Emasculation Macaroni Fashions East India Company Goods Luxury at the End of the Century Conclusion PART 4: THE POLITICS OF CULTURE Civic and Cultural Improvement Club Life The Volunteers Newspaper and Books Theatre, Opera and Masquerades Gambling and Sporting Events Art Ireland's 'Urban Renaissance' Conclusion PART 5: CONSUMPTION AND THE CASTLE ADMINISTRATION Dublin Castle Hospitality Supporting Irish Manufacture Celebrations Conclusion PART 6: THE POLITICS OF CONSUMER PROTEST Popular Protest Buy-Irish Campaigns Patriotic Products The Commercial Classes Conclusion PART 7: CONSUMPTION AND THE POLITICS OF IRISH IDENTITY Violence Absentee Landlords and Middlemen Jobbery Politeness Sexual Misbehaviour Empire Conclusion PART 8: CONCLUSION: POLITICS, CONSUMPTION AND UNION Notes Select Bibliography Index