The Anti-Jacobin Novel: British Conservatism and the French Revolution

Cambridge Studies in Romanticism

by M.O. Grenby

The French Revolution sparked an ideological debate that brought Britain to the brink of its own revolution in the 1790s. As radicals turned to the writing of "Jacobin" fiction, the fear of rebellion prompted conservatives to write novels. This is the first book to examine the extent and variety of Anti-Jacobin fiction. As well as identifying an unprecedented number of these novels and considering what they contain, M.O. Grenby investigates why they were written, especially by women, and why they proved to be so popular.

Genres: Philosophy, History

290 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 1997

About the author

Matthew Orville Grenby - Reader in Children's Literature at Newcastle University.