The French Revolution Debate in Britain

Gregory Claeys explores the reception of the French Revolution in Britain through the medium of its leading interpreters. Claeys argues that the major figures - Thomas Paine, Edmund Burke, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin and John Thelwall - collectively laid the foundations for political debate for the following century, and longer.

Acknowledgements.- Chronology.- Introduction: The Origins of Modern Political Discourse.- Edmund Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) and the Origins of Conservatism.- Thomas Paine: Rights of Man (1791-2) and the Origins of Radicalism.- Mary Wollstonecraft: Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) and the Origins of Feminism.- The Spectre of 'Levelling': Loyalists and Paineites, c.1791-5.- Varieties of Whiggism: Fox, Sheridan and the Whig Party, 1791-3.- William Godwin: Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) and the Origins of Philisophical Anarchism.- John Thelwall and the Rights of Labour.- Conclusion.- Notes.- Reading List: Major Figures.- Index.