Chartism: A New History - some views

If ever I am asked to recommend a single book about Chartism and the Chartists, I suggest Malcolm Chase's Chartism: A New History. 

Published in 2007, it is the first significant overview of the Chartist movement to be published in many years, and is in addition both eminently helpful – leading us through some of the more complex events of the period – and a joy to read. 

In a review for the Institute of Historical Studies earlier this year, Robert Saunders of Lincoln College, Oxford, praised Chartism: A New History as “subtle, wide-ranging and richly detailed, synthesising a lifetime of research and engagement”, but raised a number of issues for a debate. 

Malcolm Chase has now responded comprehensively, also setting out why he chose not to add a concluding overview of Chartism from his account. Both review and response make fascinating reading. 

The Institute for Historical Research has also carried reviews on its website of other recent works relevant to those with an interest in Chartism, including Keith Flett's Chartism After 1848 (and response from the author).

• Read the review of Chartism: A New History
• Read Malcolm Chase's response
• Read the review of Chartism after 1848
• Reader Keith Flett's response

A full index for Chartism: A New History appears on the Chartist Ancestors website, with the permission of Malcolm Chase. It contains a list of nearly 500 people involved in Chartism in one way or another.