Newly available in paperback, this is a full-length, modern study of the Diggers or ‘True Levellers’, who were among the most remarkable of the radical groups to emerge during the English Revolution of 1640-60. It was in April 1649 that the Diggers, inspired by the teachings and writings of Gerrard Winstanley, began their occupation of waste land at St George’s Hill in Surrey and called on all poor people to join them or follow their example. Acting at a time of unparalleled political change and heightened millenarian expectation, the Diggers believed that the establishment of an egalitarian, property-less society was imminent.
This book should be of interest to all those interested in England’s mid-seventeenth-century revolution and in the history of radical movements.
Table of Content
1. Parish, community and social relations in Cobham
2. The parish of Cobham and the Civil War
3. Gerrard Winstanley
4. Winstanley: the early writings
5. The Diggers on St George’s Hill
6. The Diggers and the local community
7. Aftermath
Index
About the author
John Gurney is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle UniversityMore ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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