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Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100199646708

ISBN-139780199646708

eBay Product ID (ePID)117302702

Product Key Features

Number of Pages368 Pages

Publication NameDay Parliament Burned Down

LanguageEnglish

SubjectWorld / European, Europe / Great Britain / General, Europe / General

Publication Year2012

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaPolitical Science, History

AuthorCaroline Shenton

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1.3 in

Item Weight21.2 Oz

Item Length5.6 in

Item Width8.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Edition23

ReviewsCaroline Shenton, Clerk of the Records in the parliamentary archives, shows in her excellent book, even the wood shoved into the furnaces was the product of the stranglehold of inefficient tradition., The events of October 1834 are told in an authoritative and entertaining way by our Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton in The Day Parliament Burned Down., Hour by hour she [Caroline Shenton] takes us through the fantastic build-up of the fire. You could have been there., Anyone with even a passing interest in politics of London history will be engrossed by this thoroughly researched, well-written and admirably unsensationalised book., London's most legendary 19th century conflagration is vividly described in this book by Caroline Shenton ... This excellent social history is Shenton's first book. One hopes there will be many more, not least one about today's Houses of Parliament., "Absolutely riveting... It's a thriller. Caroline Shenton is clearly one of those writers who feels that history has all the best tunes and should therefore never be boring." --Lady Antonia Fraser, One of the many achievements of Shenton's scholarly but gripping account is to revive, in all its intricacy and richness, the ghost of one of London's greatest lost treasures., "A hugely enjoyable read. It is formidably well researched and tells a gripping story throughout. I was riveted. Readers will be informed and enthralled by this book." --Professor John Morrill, University of Cambridge, The author, Clerk of the Records at Westminster, could not have been bettered as our guide to this exciting event., Anyone with even a passing interest in politics or London history will be engrossed by this thoroughly researched, well-written and admirably unsensationalised book., The detail Shenton provides is absolutely fascinating, such as the Dean of Westminster, who refused to move the Domesday Book to safety as he had not received the Prime Minister's permission. Each chapter is headed with the successive hour of the fire, creating a wonderfully detailed and gripping read., The Day Parliament Burned Down is both a gripping account of that fateful night and a wide-ranging search for its ramifications across British society. Well written and extensively illustrated, this is a book that deserves attention., No one has written about the burning of Parliament before , and this vivid, superbly researched book is a definitive account of one of the greatest cockups in English history., She has just the voice to narrate this tale, gripping the reader by the scruff as she describes the titanic struggle to save Westminster Hall and its stupendous hammerbeam roof She has written a wonderful first book., 'With meticulous research, using eyewitness accounts and newspaper records, it makes for compulsive and entertaining reading.' Sarah Clarke, Bookseller's Choice'Absolutely riveting... It's a thriller. Caroline Shenton is clearly one of those writers who feels that history has all the best tunes and should therefore never be boring.' Lady Antonia Fraser'A hugely enjoyable read. It is formidably well researched and tells a gripping story throughout. I was riveted. Readers will be informed and enthralled by this book.' Professor John Morrill, University of Cambridge

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal942.132075

Table Of ContentPrologue1. Thursday 16 October 1834, 6am: Mr Hume's Motion for a New House2. Thursday 16 October 1834, 7am: Novelty, Novelty, Novelty3. Thursday 16 October 1834, 9am: Worn-out, worm-eaten, rotten old bits of wood4. Thursday 16 October 1834, 3pm: Manifest Indications of Danger5. Thursday 16 October 1834, 6pm: One of the Greatest Instances of Stupidity on Record6. Thursday 16 October 1834, 7pm: The Brilliancy of Noonday7. Thursday 16 October 1834, 8pm: Immense and Appalling Splendour8. Thursday 16 October 1834, 9pm: Damn the House of Commons!9. Thursday, 16 October 1834, 10pm: Save, Oh Save, the Hall!10. Thursday 16 October 1834, 11pm: Milton's Pandemonium11. Friday 17 October 1834, Midnight: A National Calamity12. Friday 17 October 1834, 1am: Emptying the Thames13. Friday 17 October 1834, 3.30am: Thank God we seem all safe14. Friday 17 October 1834, 4am: Guy Faux has rose again15. Friday 17 October 1834, 6am: Past PerilEpilogueIndex

SynopsisThe thrilling but largely unknown story of the day in 1834 that the 800 year-old Houses of Parliament burned down - an event that was as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century., In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs. In front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses the great conflagration destroyed Parliament's glorious old buildings and their contents. No one who witnessed the disaster would ever forget it. The events of that October day in 1834 were as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century - yet today this national catastrophe is a forgotten disaster, not least because Barry and Pugin's monumental new Palace of Westminster has obliterated all memory of its 800 year-old predecessor. Rumours as to the fire's cause were rife. Was it arson, terrorism, the work of foreign operatives, a kitchen accident, careless builders, or even divine judgement on politicians?In this, the first full-length book on the subject, head Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton unfolds the gripping story of the fire over the course of that fateful day and night. In the process, she paints a skilful portrait of the political and social context of the time, including details of the slums of Westminster and the frenzied expansion of the West End; the plight of the London Irish; child labour, sinecures and corruption in high places; fire-fighting techniques and floating engines; the Great Reform Act and the new Poor Law; Captain Swing and arson at York Minster; the parlous state of public buildings and records in the Georgian period; and above all the symbolism which many contemporaries saw in the spectacular fall of a national icon., In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs. In front of hundreds of thousands of witnesses the great conflagration destroyed Parliament's glorious old buildings and their contents. No one who witnessed the disaster would ever forget it. The events of that October day in 1834 were as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century - yet today this national catastrophe is a forgotten disaster, not least because Barry and Pugin's monumental new Palace of Westminster has obliterated all memory of its 800 year-old predecessor. Rumours as to the fire's cause were rife. Was it arson, terrorism, the work of foreign operatives, a kitchen accident, careless builders, or even divine judgement on politicians? In this, the first full-length book on the subject, head Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton unfolds the gripping story of the fire over the course of that fateful day and night. In the process, she paints a skilful portrait of the political and social context of the time, including details of the slums of Westminster and the frenzied expansion of the West End; the plight of the London Irish; child labour, sinecures and corruption in high places; fire-fighting techniques and floating engines; the Great Reform Act and the new Poor Law; Captain Swing and arson at York Minster; the parlous state of public buildings and records in the Georgian period; and above all the symbolism which many contemporaries saw in the spectacular fall of a national icon.

LC Classification NumberDA687.W6