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"We begin by protesting and upholding the grand bulwark of all our liberties - the freedom of the press". So declared the "Poor man's guardian" when it appeared, unstamped in defiance of the law, in 1831 amid the democratic upheaval in support of the great Reform Bill. "We have taken upon ourselves its protection, and we will never abandon our posts," the declaration continued. "We proclaim that we represent the working... classes... a very great majority of the population". This book traces the story of the radical and working-class press in Britain from the "Wilkes and liberty" agitation of the eighteenth century, through the radical press revolt against the "taxes on knowledge", the great "Northern Star" of chartism and its brother papers, the socialist and labour papers of the 1880s and 90s, and the militant "Daily Herald", up to the "Morning Star" today. The author has been on the staff of the "Daily Worker" and its successor the "Morning Star" since 1951, and chief sub-editor since 1966. He concludes by reviewing the situation reached by the time of the 1974 general election, and argues for the changes necessary if the real substance of earlier victories for freedom of the press is to be saved and extended - the case for democracy which the current Royal Commission on the Press must heed and act upon if it is to avoid repeating the barren proceedings of its predecessors.

Journaux anglais --- Histoire --- English newspapers --- History. --- Histoire.