Reviews
"Arthur Cash treats the career of John Wilkes as a central episode in the rise of modern liberty. The story is told with authority and vivid feeling: it has the force and immediacy of good journalism and a wealth of historical detail hardly available to Wilkes or his contemporaries. This book rescues Wilkes from legend back to life."-David Bromwich, Yale University , "Arthur Cash's carefully detailed new biography of Wilkes examines the life and career of a founding father of civil liberty both seriously and sympathetically, considering Wilkes within the broad cultural context of the volatile decades in which he was most active."-Stephen C. Behrendt, Eighteenth-Century Life, "Arthur Cash's carefully detailed new biography of Wilkes examines the life and career of a founding father of civil liberty both seriously and sympathetically, considering Wilkes within the broad cultural context of the volatile decades in which he was most active."--Stephen C. Behrendt, Eighteenth-Century Life, "An enjoyable biography of the libertine, civil libertarian, and popular symbol of protest. Cash's treatment seeks to remind those who might have forgotten that Wilkes was the eighteenth century's principal champion of free speech and a free press."--Andrew Shankman, Journal of the Early Republic, "Arthur Cash's biography of Wilkes combines outstanding scholarshipthe product of years of archival researchwith a compelling, nuanced and beautifully told narrative of the life of one of the eighteenth century's most compelling characters."John Brewer, author of The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century, "John Wilkes was one of the most influential and charismatic political activists in British history. He has attrached many biographers, none better informed on his private and public life than this author."--H.T. Dickinson, The Historian, "It is difficult to believe that John Wilkes, a notorious womanizer and scandal-monger, was a genuine hero of civil liberties and political democracy on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 18th century, but hero he was and in this engaging book Arthur Cash gives Wilkes the serious treatment he has long deserved."-Eric Foner, Columbia University, �Arthur Cash�s biography of Wilkes combines outstanding scholarship�the product of years of archival research�with a compelling, nuanced and beautifully told narrative of the life of one of the eighteenth century�s most compelling characters.��John Brewer, author of The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century, "It is difficult to believe that John Wilkes, a notorious womanizer and scandal-monger, was a genuine hero of civil liberties and political democracy on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 18th century, but hero he was and in this engaging book Arthur Cash gives Wilkes the serious treatment he has long deserved."�Eric Foner, Columbia University, "Arthur Cash treats the career of John Wilkes as a central episode in the rise of modern liberty. The story is told with authority and vivid feeling: it has the force and immediacy of good journalism and a wealth of historical detail hardly available to Wilkes or his contemporaries. This book rescues Wilkes from legend back to life."�David Bromwich, Yale University, "An enjoyable biography of the libertine, civil libertarian, and popular symbol of protest. Cash''s treatment seeks to remind those who might have forgotten that Wilkes was the eighteenth century''s principal champion of free speech and a free press."--Andrew Shankman, Journal of the Early Republic, "Arthur Cash treats the career of John Wilkes as a central episode in the rise of modern liberty. The story is told with authority and vivid feeling: it has the force and immediacy of good journalism and a wealth of historical detail hardly available to Wilkes or his contemporaries. This book rescues Wilkes from legend back to life."-David Bromwich, Yale University, "Arthur Cash's biography of Wilkes combines outstanding scholarshipthe product of years of archival researchwith a compelling, nuanced and beautifully told narrative of the life of one of the eighteenth century's most compelling characters."John Brewer, author ofThe Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century, "Arthur Cash treats the career of John Wilkes as a central episode in the rise of modern liberty. The story is told with authority and vivid feeling: it has the force and immediacy of good journalism and a wealth of historical detail hardly available to Wilkes or his contemporaries. This book rescues Wilkes from legend back to life."David Bromwich, Yale University, "Arthur Cash''s carefully detailed new biography of Wilkes examines the life and career of a founding father of civil liberty both seriously and sympathetically, considering Wilkes within the broad cultural context of the volatile decades in which he was most active."--Stephen C. Behrendt,Eighteenth-Century Life, "Arthur Cash''s carefully detailed new biography of Wilkes examines the life and career of a founding father of civil liberty both seriously and sympathetically, considering Wilkes within the broad cultural context of the volatile decades in which he was most active."--Stephen C. Behrendt, Eighteenth-Century Life, "John Wilkes was one of the most influential and charismatic political activists in British history. He has attrached many biographers, none better informed on his private and public life than this author. . . . Cash is excellent on Wilkes's private life and public career."-H.T. Dickinson, The Historian, "It is difficult to believe that John Wilkes, a notorious womanizer and scandal-monger, was a genuine hero of civil liberties and political democracy on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 18th century, but hero he was and in this engaging book Arthur Cash gives Wilkes the serious treatment he has long deserved."--Eric Foner, Columbia University, "Arthur Cash's biography of Wilkes combines outstanding scholarship-the product of years of archival research-with a compelling, nuanced and beautifully told narrative of the life of one of the eighteenth century's most compelling characters."-John Brewer, author of The Pleasures of the Imagination: English Culture in the Eighteenth Century, "It is difficult to believe that John Wilkes, a notorious womanizer and scandal-monger, was a genuine hero of civil liberties and political democracy on both sides of the Atlantic in the late 18th century, but hero he was and in this engaging book Arthur Cash gives Wilkes the serious treatment he has long deserved."Eric Foner, Columbia University
