Captain Swing

Eric Hobsbawm & George Rude, Verso, 384 pages, paperback, £14.99

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, capitalism swept from the cities into the countryside. And from 1830 on, a series of revolts known as the “Swing” shook England to its core.

Landowners wanting to make their land more profitable started to use machinery to harvest crops, causing widespread misery among rural communities.

“Captain Swing” was the name appended to some of the threatening letters used by protesters during the English Swing riots of the time, such as:

Sir, Your name is down amongst the Black hearts in the Black Book and this is to advise you and the like of you, who are Parson Justasses, to make your wills. Ye have been the Blackguard Enemies of the People on all occasions, Ye have not yet done as ye ought — Swing

First published in 1969, Verso has brought out a new paperback version of this classic book.

In our increasingly mechanised age, the Swing revolts are a timely record of the relationship between technological advance, labour and poverty.

Captain Swing reveals the background to that upheaval, from its rise to its fall, and shines a light on the people who tried to change the world and save their livelihoods.

Reviews contributed by the Bookmarks socialist bookshop. Order online at www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk