'It was not a good bill, but it was a great bill when it passed,' said John Bright of the famous 1832 Reform Bill. It left much undone; it included clauses introduced to win critics over to its cause; it lacked administrative foresight; it created anomalies in the voting qualifications. But it was great because it heralded a far-reaching and peaceful revolution in the British parliamentary system. The crisis which preceded its passing dominated British political life and British statesmen - Wellington, Grey, Peel, to name only three - for two dramatic years during which party intrigue and reforming zeal affected London and the country, the press and the unions, aristocracy and working class alike.

The last full study of the Reform Act was published in 1914. Since then, many manuscript collections have become available to historians; and detailed studies have been made of such episodes as the agricultural laborers' 'revolt' of 1830 and the run on the banks in May 1832. Michael Bock has drawn upon this material to look again at a patrician society in which 'democrat' was a term of abuse, and to reassess what the reformers achieved. His story is as colourful and compelling as his characters, and his use of manuscript material makes his book an original and important contribution to nineteenth-century British history.