Whigs and Cities is the first major study of the urban politics of the early Hanoverian era. The book challenges the view that the political nation was of minimal significance, highlighting the critical contribution of the larger towns to the agitations which beset Walpole and swept Pitt to power. At the same time the book is attentive to the different rhythms and trajectories of urban politics and seeks to show, through a study of Bristol, Norwich, and the metropolis, the relative strength of the opposition sentiment and its social configurations, the persistence of local antagonisms, and the interplay of economic interest and political clientage. It ends with a discussion of crowds and political festivals which sheds new light on the grass-roots dynamics of urban political culture.

Nicholas Rogers' profile page

Nicholas Rogers is an Associate Professor of History at York University, Ontario.

'important and lucidly argued volume ... Professor Rogers would be the first to admit that a lot more work has still to be done on urban politis. But his fine ground-breaking study has opened up the theme and pointed the way.' Angus McInnes, University of Keele, British Journal of 18th-Century Studies, 15:1

'the book is a major contribution to our understanding of the 18th century' Times Higher Education Supplement

'an important study of Hanoverian urban politics' Archives

'A book of outstanding learning and research.' S.E. Goodman, Journal of the London Society

'What he adds that is new is the detail and subtlety that can only come from precise, grass-roots analysis.' Times Literary Supplement

'indispensable to students of urban politics in the reign of the first two Georges' Eveline Cruikshank, History Today

'a fine piece of work which certainly deserves the attention of all interested in the history of urban politics. It breaks new ground, particularly in its examination of cities outside London, and deserves to become a standard for research in the field.' Malcolm Greenshields, Urban History Review

'Professor Roger's long-awaited study of urban politics in the middle decades of the eighteenth century makes an important contribution to the current debate concerning the nature of the Hanoverian political system ... we can be fully appreciative of the importance of Professor Roger's achievement: he has provided us with a model of metropolitan and provincial political culture in the early Hanoverian period which will be the benchmark for future studies in this area.' History

'a splendid treatment of its theme, missing no opportunity to bring out the importance of the subject, but resisting the tempation to claim too much ... Rogers has provided us with what must be, for some time to come, the standard work on the cities and larger towns of the early Hanoverian period.' Brian W. Hill, University of East Anglia, English Historical Review, January 1991

'This is a very substantial study, and a stimulating one ...A distinguishing merit of this thoughtful study is the range of source material on which the author draws ... the book has a freshness and vigour which should commend it to the interested reader.' Joanna Innes, Somerville College, Oxford, Labour History Review, Vol.55, No.3, Winter 1990