2006: Recent historiographical trends of the British Studies
Radicalism and the English revolution

Fabricating radical traditions

Ariel Hessayon
Goldsmiths, University of London

Published 2006-07-01

Keywords

  • English Revolution,
  • Radicalism,
  • Diggers,
  • Levellers

Abstract

Vestiges of radicalism recovered in manuscripts and rediscovered in printed texts have sometimes intermingled with perceived radical heritages to produce vibrant radical eruptions. This can be seen by tracing the ways through which radicalism in the English Revolution has been successively appropriated and constructed - and how, subject to competing interpretations, these fabrications have disintegrated leaving only shards of radical traditions.