Arts and arms : literature, politics and patriotism during the Seven Years War / M. John Cardwell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cardwell, M. John.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Patriotism in literature.

Seven Years' War, 1756-1763--Literature and the war.

Seven Years' War, 1756-1763.

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Politics and literature--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Politics and literature.

Great Britain.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 306 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Palgrave, 2004.

Summary:

This Study examines the political controversies of the Seven Years War as reflected in contemporary British poetry, ballads, fiction, drama and prose satire. It investigates their authorship, patronage, publication and distribution, including dissemination through the press and with political prints. Literary works demonstrate a great diversity in authorship and political sophistication, with patrons and writers extending from members of the parliamentary classes through the professional and commercial orders, to semi-literate ballad singers. Genres range from high political satire and parodies of parliamentary debates to popular ballads and verse graffiti. They reveal a thriving literary-political culture, which embraced all stations of society.

Literary sources are placed in a close political context by testing the accuracy of the information they conveyed against the correspondence and memoirs of politicians, and parliamentary debates. The degree to which literature not only recorded, but also helped to shape political attitudes, is explored by reference to these and other manifestations of opinion, such as popular protest and extra-parliamentary initiative.

Political literature illustrates the dominant international issues confronting Britain in this period, such as imperial competition with France in North America, and the extent to which national self-interest could best be realised by participation in, or isolation from, European alliances. It sheds light upon the cultural and ideological framework of political debate, as in the revival of patriotism inspired by the early defeats of the war. Literary works also reflect public perceptions of leading political protagonists such as William Pitt, Henry Fox, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Bute, George II and George III, and Britain's ally Frederick II of Prussia.

This fascinating work will be invaluable to scholars of eighteenth-century British history and literature.

Contents:

1 Introduction: a literary-political culture 1

2 Pelham's death, Pitt and patriotism 17

3 Byng and the fall of Minorca 46

4 Minorca, the Newcastle ministry, and the failures of war 73

5 Patriotism resurrected 103

6 The collapse of the Newcastle ministry 127

7 The rise of Pitt 151

8 The Pitt-Newcastle ministry 185

9 North America and Germany 209

10 Pitt, patriotism and the peace 239.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-301) and index.

ISBN:

0719066182

OCLC:

53391258