This period begins and ends with two great Prime Ministers, William Pitt the Younger in 1783 and Sir Robert Peel in 1846. It was an age of great contrasts: a country that was undergoing fundamental economic and social change that was presided over by a reactionary government bent on keeping things as they were. The long wars against France (1793- 1815) added to the complexities of the period and left a long legacy of intellectual tension and conflict between the government and the people.

5 weeks – £100