‘One of the finest historians of the present age’
Hill examines the beliefs and methods of various revolutionary groups, from the Ranters, who rejected obedience and believed that God was within everyone, to the Diggers, who called for a communal ownership of land, establishing a settlement called George Hill in Surrey. Together these groups represented a significant challenge to the dominant ideology and the institutions upholding it.
As acclaimed historian Bernard Capp writes in his introduction, Hill encourages the reader to be ‘moved by their passionate idealism, their courage in challenging almost every traditional assumption’.
‘This book will outlive our time and will stand as a notable monument to the man, the committed radical scholar, and one of the finest historians of the present age’
- Time Literary Supplement
Of the 24 pages of black & white and colour images in this first illustrated edition, many feature pieces from revolutionary pamphlets, including the front page of the tract that inspired the title of this book, depicting an England where all the rules have been broken: a horse pushes a cart, fish fly through the sky and a man wears his boots on his hands.