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The Radical Potter: Josiah Wedgwood and the Transformation of Britain

Written by: Tristram Hunt


Josiah Wedgwood, perhaps the greatest English potter who ever lived, epitomized the best of his age. From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, he revolutionized the production of ceramics in Georgian Britain by marrying technology with design, manufacturing efficiency and retail flair. He transformed the luxury markets not only of London, Liverpool, Bath and Dublin but of America and the world, and helping to usher in a mass consumer society. Tristram Hunt calls him 'the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century'.

But Wedgwood was radical in his mind and politics as well as in his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, read pioneering papers to the Royal Society and was a member of the celebrated Lunar Society of Birmingham. Most significantly, he created the ceramic 'Emancipation Badge', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement.

Tristram Hunt's hugely enjoyable new biography, strongly based on Wedgwood's notebooks, letters and the words of his contemporaries, brilliantly captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.

 

THE RADICAL POTTER was published on 2nd September 2021 by Allen Lane.

Other publications by Tristram Hunt



The English Civil War

Building Jerusalem: The Rise and Fall of the Victorian City

The Frock-Coated Communist – The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels

Ten Cities That Made an Empire
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Authors
  • A-C
  • D-F
  • G-K
  • L-M
  • N-Q
  • R-S
  • T-V
  • W-Z
Twitter
  • about 1 day ago😍The new👑#PrincessPodcast👑 boxset by @BBCRadio4 is live! Featuring our own @fraserflora, author of… https://t.co/8yXWaF46Fb
  • about 3 days agoWatch Chibundu Onuzo, author of the incredible #SANKOFA, and listen to her beautiful new single #ComingHome on… https://t.co/tKI6N6nB5C
  • about 3 days ago😍Absolutely gorgeous! @LeandadeLisle's #HENRIETTAMARIA comes out on the 4th August!!! @ChattoBooks https://t.co/wIjb4KJZnI
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