Rural Rides
'Rural Rides' Summary
Cobbett disapproved of proposals for remedies for agricultural distress suggested in Parliament in 1821. He made up his mind to see rural conditions for himself, and to "enforce by actual observation of rural conditions" the statements he had made in answer to the arguments of the landlords before the Parliamentary Agricultural Committee.
He embarked on a series of journeys by horseback through the countryside of Southeast England and the English Midlands. He wrote down what he saw from the points of view both of a farmer and a social reformer. The result documents the early 19th-century countryside and its people as well as giving free vent to Cobbett's opinions.
He first published his observations in serial form in the Political Register, between 1822 and 1826. Four rides from 1822, 1823, 1825 and 1826 were first published in book form in two volumes in 1830. In 1853, his son James published an expanded edition, including rides from 1821, as well as his father's 1830-32 political tours to the Midlands, North and Scotland.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1822Author
William Cobbett
United States
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, journalist, Member of Parliament and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey, one of a popular agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten borough...
More on William CobbettDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Neighbors: Life Stories of the Other Half by Jacob Riis
These stories have come to me from many sources—some from my own experience, others from settlement workers, still others from the records of organize...
Lectures of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, Volume 1 by Robert Ingersoll
Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll was a Civil War veteran, American political leader and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his defen...
The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 02 by National Geographic Society
National Geographic (formerly the National Geographic Magazine, sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is the long-lived official monthly magazine of the Natio...
The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 03 by National Geographic Society
National Geographic (formerly the National Geographic Magazine, sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is the long-lived official monthly magazine of the Natio...
Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold
According to his view advanced in the book, "Culture is a study of perfection". He further wrote that: "[Culture] seeks to do away with classes; to ma...
Essays of Schopenhauer by Arthur Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer is considered to be one of the most influential philosophers of all times. Many of his ideas and quotes have been quoted largely and have...
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry
"Give me liberty, or give me death!" is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1...
Further Foolishness by Stephen Leacock
"Professor Leacock has made more people laugh with the written word than any other living author. One may say he is one of the greatest jesters, the g...
Utopia of Usurers by Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Now I have said again and again that we must hit Capitalism, and hit it hard, for the plain and definite reason that it is growing stronger. Most of...
Five Lectures on Blindness by Kate Foley
It contains five speeches by a very enthusiastic teacher who is blind from early childhood herself.
Reviews for Rural Rides
No reviews posted or approved, yet...