Robert Reid

The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers . . . Mr Reid’s definitive account of Peterloo is splendidly written.

There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people.

[A] magnificent volume of dramatic history.

From an awe-inspiring range of sources Dr Reid has constructed a narrative that reads like a political thriller in which numerous threads are drawn together in the bloody climax. Each character is fleshed out with his ambitions, abilities and achievements . . . [A] devastatingly comprehensive epic . . .  The book will inform and invigorate anyone with an interest in history, drawing intriguing parallels with contemporary ideology.

Robert Reid’s narrative style in describing the people, background and motivation behind all this cannot be faulted. He writes sympathetically and readably, but always retains a sense of perspective. A well-researched book on one of English social history’s unhappiest days.

[A] careful and lucid account of Peterloo.

A stirring account of the “massacre” and its background . . . He strips away the myths and endeavours to show what actually happened and why.

Dr Robert Reid is an accomplished author in whose hands history comes alive in a remarkable way . . . A valuable addition to the history of a turbulent period in English history.

Within this often-pulsating commentary there is a perceptive narrative on the influence of technology on social and political life.

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'The universal significance of this historic event becomes ever more relevant in our own turbulent times.' MIKE LEIGH, director of the award-winning film Peterloo 
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The Peterloo Massacre is a revealing and compelling account of one of the darkest days in Britain's social history. 
 
On 16 August 1819, a strong force of yeomanry and regular cavalry charged into a crowd of more than 100,000 workers who had gathered on St Peter’s Field in Manchester for a meeting about Parliamentary reform. 
 
Many were killed. This violent, startling event became known as Peterloo, one of the darkest days in Britain’s social history. 
 
The Peterloo Massacre provides a revealing narrative account of the events leading up to Peterloo, starkly describes the actions of that fateful day, and examines its aftermath. It offers a new perspective on the political and military activities of the time, and shows how the very nature of society was powerfully influenced by irreversible technological change: a pattern that, two-hundred years later, still has relevance in understanding the forces shaping our world today. 
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'One of our nation's defining moments.' STUART MACONIE 
 
'Vivid and rather brilliant.' THE TIMES 
 
'an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompetence, betrayal and brutality, told with the skill of a master craftsman who makes history leap from the page fresh as the morning’s newspapers' EVENING CHRONICLE 
 
'There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Robert Reid’s description and analysis of the role and effects of technology, and I hope his book will be widely read. It should be in every school library and discussed by all those involved in the continuing search for civilised solutions to the social and political problems currently facing our people.' CAMDEN JOURNAL

Robert Reid

Praise for The Peterloo Massacre

Vivid and rather brilliant.

The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompet ...

There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s descripti ...

Vivid and rather brilliant.

The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompet ...

There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s descripti ...

Vivid and rather brilliant.

The Peterloo Massacre is an absorbing analysis of one of the blackest days for civil liberties which this country has ever known. It is a story of heroes and villains, of suffering and carnage and of incompet ...

There are many accounts of the Peterloo Massacre but none as thoroughly researched as this one. The characters . . . come alive in his easy to read style . . . there is much to be learned from Rober Reid’s descripti ...

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