Clive Bloom

We live in an age of terrorism and like to think that the United Kingdom is a reasonably peaceful place, largely untroubled by the latest atrocity committed by foreign fanatics. Yet we too have a hidden tradition of terrorism that official history has chosen to ignore. Since the 1790s, almost 23,000 British subjects have fought and died on British soil for the ideals of revolutionary republicanism. As well as the three bloody civil wars in Ireland, and the bombing campaigns by the IRA in English cities, there have been two Welsh uprisings, one Lowland Scottish civil war, one crofters' rebellion, one uprising in Derbyshire and another in Kent. There have also been five attempts to assassinate the entire cabinet and seize London, numerous attempts to murder the royal family and an almost continuous history of terrorism from the Fenians of the 1860s to the Tartan Army of the 1970s. Clive Bloom's new book tells for the first time the full story of attempts to set up a British republic. Colourful and revealing, it throws light on the links between English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh republicanism and shows how the anti-terror state was born not in 2001 but in the 1790s.

"Creepers" are urban explorers who illegally enter sealed buildings.

"Almost as soon as it was built, London suffered the first of many acts of violent protest, when Boudicca and her followers set fire to the city in A.D. 60. Ever since, the capital's streets have been a forum for popular insurrection. Yet this is the first time that London's 'secret' history has been fully explored - the underground world of radicals and subversives from Wat Tyler to the Anti-Globalization Movement via the Gordon Riots, the Cato Street Conspirators, the Suffragettes, Mosleyites and the IRA." "This is the story of an alternative London, as well as an alternative political history of the British Isles, outside parliamentary processes, sometimes popular, sometimes conspiratorial, in direct confrontation with the forces of the state, its police, military and secret service. It's a story of political activism expressed in street fighting and slum warfare, in assassination and bombing, peopled by a fascinating array of demagogues and democrats, lunatics and libertarians, bigots and social revolutionaries. It is also the story of the growth of London as a capital and as a major city."--Jacket.

This essential guide and reference work provides a unique insight into over 100 years of publishing and reading as well as taking us on a journey into the heart of the British imagination.

"In 1997, thirty years after the demise of 'Swinging London', Britain again seemed to be the centre of the cultural universe, with a thriving arts scene, a new Labour government and a young and enterprising prime minister. 'Cool Britannia' seemed to sum up the new spirit of the 1990s in the hip language of the 1960s.". "Literature, Politics and Intellectual Crisis in Britain Today analyses those social and political influences of the twentieth century which have shaped the intellectual and artistic rhetorics of contemporary Britain. It places particular emphasis on the cultural, moral and historical critiques of socialist and conservative cultural thinkers as they have fought over the guardianship of the avant garde and its relationship with literary heritage, academic debate and communal identity. Through a re-evaluation of sixties radicalism and the anarchist-libertarian tradition, this volume highlights a forgotten history of resistance, offers a sharp critique of consensus radicalism and provides a repoliticisation of cultural studies. Clive Bloom offers a radical and controversial guide to the possibilities for intellectual life, popular culture, literary production and political authority in multi-cultural Britain in 2000 and beyond."--BOOK JACKET.

Here is an exploration of pulp literature and pulp mentalities: an investigation into the nature and theory of the contemporary mind in art and in life. Here too, the violent, the sensational and the erotic signify different facets of the modern experience played out in the gaudy pages of kitsch literature. Clive Bloom offers the reader a chance to investigate the underworld of literary production and from it find a new set of co-ordinates for questions regarding publishing and reading practices in America and Britain, ideas of genre, problems related to commercial production, concerns regarding high and low culture, the canon and censorship, as well as a discussion of the rhetoric of current critical debate. Concentrating on remembered authors as well as many long disregarded or forgotten, Cult Fiction provides a theory of kitsch art that radically alters our perceptions of literature and literary values while providing a panorama of an almost forgotten history: the history of pulp.

Since 2000, London has seen unprecedented levels of unrest. Its streets have become the battleground for a host of new demands and new ideological standpoints; its occupants, protesters and authority alike, have had to invent new tactics to cope with the pressure of these demands. Riot City deals in detail with the story behind the capital's unrest from the perspective of protesters, police and government. Using a range of sources, from security briefings to reportage, Clive Bloom provides a full historical analysis of the student protests to the August riots. In doing so, he draws parallels between these shocking events and reveals, more disturbingly, how security forces failed to act upon their early predictions of the intensified violence of 2011.

Tracing its origins back to Walt Whitman, the Modernist tradition in American poetry is driven by the same concern to engage with the world in revolutionary terms, inspired by the concept of democracy vital to the American dream. But this tradition is not confined to a few writers at the beginning of the century: instead it has been an enduring force, extending from coast to coast and of varying hues: Imagist, Objectivist, Beat. International in flavour but shaped by the language and conditions of America, this poetry continues to speak to us today. This collection of specially commissioned essays brings together leading scholars and critics to define the American Modernist canon, providing a range of perspectives helpful to all those interested in this fascinating poetry.

What's the time, Mr Wolf? It's story time with Debi Gliori! Join Mr Wolf from breakfast to bedtime and see that he's really not that big and bad after all. Have fun spotting your favourite nursery rhyme characters - from Little Red Riding Hood to Three Little Pigs ... An enchantingly original story inspired by the well-known playground game, also perfect for learning to tell the time.

Influenced by Ibsen and Strindberg, American drama had its origins in small theatre companies and groups of semi-professional players in the early 1900s, whose commitment was to inspire such writers as Eugene O'Neill, Susan Glaspell, Imamu Amiri Baraka, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. Born into this century, American drama has acted both as a reflection and as a commentary on the dominance, power and sometimes corruption of the American democratic dream. Today, American theatre still challenges its audiences with a powerful voice unknown to television and commercial film, bringing to the fore issues of gender, colour and political oppression. This collection of specially written essays offers a comprehensive introduction to the subject for students wishing to familiarise themselves with this exciting field, and those already involved with the current debate in the area will welcome the broad approach adopted by this volume.