This study of the political attitudes of ordinary Londoners during the
reign of Charles II examines not only the manifestations of public
opinion - for example, riot and demonstration - but also the manner of
its formation - religious experience, economic activity, and exposure to
mass political propaganda. Professor Harris shows to be misleading the
conventional view, that the whigs enjoyed the support of the London
masses, and the tories were essentially anti-populist. Both sides had
public support during the exclusion crisis, and this division stemmed
from fundamental religious tensions within London political culture,
dating back to 1660 and before. Attractively illustrated with polemical
contemporary engravings, London Crowds demonstrates clearly the value of
bringing together both high and low activity into a truly integrated
social history of politics, and sheds important new light not just on
urban agitation but on the nature of late-Stuart party conflict.