Podcast: Sedition, transportation and treason: the case of the London Corresponding Society

How did a small group of men discussing democracy in the coffee houses of London of 1792 lead to one of the most sensational treason trials of the eighteenth century? Using newly catalogued Home Office correspondence this talk will explore just how dangerous the activities of these 'Democrats' were, why these few working class Londoners were so feared and the suppression tactics employed by the Government which included detailed surveillance, undercover secret agents, the interception of mail and entrapment