Ballads and songs of Peterloo is an edited collection of poems and songs
written following the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. This collection, which
includes over seventy poems, were published either as broadsides or in
radical periodicals and newspapers. Notes to support the reading of the
texts are provided, but they also stand alone, conveying the original
publications without diluting their authenticity.
Following an introduction outlining the massacre, the radical press and
broadside ballad, the poems are grouped into six sections according to
theme. Shelley's Masque of Anarchy is included as an appendix in
acknowledgement of its continuing significance to the representation of
Peterloo.
This book is primarily aimed at students and lecturers of Romanticism
and social history.