Chartist Fiction Book

For the first time since their appearance in Chartist newspapers these two major radical narratives are reprinted in a single volume. The Political Pilgrim's Progress combines Utopian politics with Bunyanesque satire to tell the story of the journey of Radical and his family from the City of Plunder to the City of Reform. Sunshine and Shadow is the only serialized novel to have been published in the Northern Star. It brings together fictional biography and historical chronicle to form the first truly working-class novel." "Both texts offer a unique insight into the literary achievements of the Chartist movement, and will be a valuable and entertaining source for scholars of radical politics. The texts are fully annotated, and the editor also provides an introduction to each story and a bibliography of recent scholarship.

Booknews

Reprints the two major radical narratives for the first time since they appeared in Chartist newspapers. Doubleday's is a Bunyanesque tale of the journey by Radical and his family from the City of Plunder to the City of Reform; it appeared in the during 1839. Wheeler's (1849-50), the only novel ever serialized in the , combines fictional biography and historical chronicle into the first truly working-class novel. Haywood (English, Roehampton Institute, London) contributes notes and introductions. This is the second of his three volumes of Chartist fiction; the first collected several short stories and the second will reprint Ernest Jones' . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)