Defoe was the last Leveller and just thinking about this great movement makes me sad and angry, primarily because of the Levellers’ potential relevance to today.
I'm a big admirer of the Bristol Radical History Group. I've read some excellent posts on the site and there are some terrific books, too. I fear they are unique because I've never come across any group comparable. I would guess Liverpool must have a radical history group somewhere.
My pleasure. I think I'm a frustrated history writer. I would have said history teacher, but they all seem to stay within orthodox tramlines and so much of our true past disappears. At school they taught us that Cromwell was a monster; some truth there, and the royalists were colourful, dashing, romantic heroes, characters to look up to. Because they wanted us to admire today's royalists. No mention of the Levellers fighting for a better, just society. It shows just how afraid of the past the powers that be are.
Thank you, William. You are too kind! I escaped to Spain and one reason was because it's a lot cheaper. The prices in central London for a beer or even a mineral water were crazy - and that was a few years ago now. I wish things would be better after the election, but the general view is they will be just the same. We need the Levellers more than ever
Here in Bristol, we have a Radical History Group dedicated to keeping the memories of groups like the Levellers alive. I don't know if such groups exist elsewhere, but I assume they do.
One of the many things I enjoy about your Substack newsletters are the history lessons you provide. I live in Canada and I have learned more about WWI from your newsletters than I did from any history course in school. This was another fine column where I learned about a movement that I was previously unaware of.
Thank you so much for a fascinating essay. It shines like a piece of gold amid the sewage that, quite by design, constitutes the internet. This is why they've closed the pubs, priced us out of the cities, and buried all else in adverts and hectoring, propagandist prattle. We are to sit at home and be bullied into submission by the pathetically limited and false 'alternatives' offered. I am going to write 'PAT MILLS' on my voting slip. Thank you.
I'm a big admirer of the Bristol Radical History Group. I've read some excellent posts on the site and there are some terrific books, too. I fear they are unique because I've never come across any group comparable. I would guess Liverpool must have a radical history group somewhere.
My pleasure. I think I'm a frustrated history writer. I would have said history teacher, but they all seem to stay within orthodox tramlines and so much of our true past disappears. At school they taught us that Cromwell was a monster; some truth there, and the royalists were colourful, dashing, romantic heroes, characters to look up to. Because they wanted us to admire today's royalists. No mention of the Levellers fighting for a better, just society. It shows just how afraid of the past the powers that be are.
Thank you, William. You are too kind! I escaped to Spain and one reason was because it's a lot cheaper. The prices in central London for a beer or even a mineral water were crazy - and that was a few years ago now. I wish things would be better after the election, but the general view is they will be just the same. We need the Levellers more than ever
Here in Bristol, we have a Radical History Group dedicated to keeping the memories of groups like the Levellers alive. I don't know if such groups exist elsewhere, but I assume they do.
One of the many things I enjoy about your Substack newsletters are the history lessons you provide. I live in Canada and I have learned more about WWI from your newsletters than I did from any history course in school. This was another fine column where I learned about a movement that I was previously unaware of.
Thank you so much for a fascinating essay. It shines like a piece of gold amid the sewage that, quite by design, constitutes the internet. This is why they've closed the pubs, priced us out of the cities, and buried all else in adverts and hectoring, propagandist prattle. We are to sit at home and be bullied into submission by the pathetically limited and false 'alternatives' offered. I am going to write 'PAT MILLS' on my voting slip. Thank you.