Behold the man : the life, times and circle of Daniel Isaac Eaton, 1753-1814

Daniel Isaac Eaton was a central figure in the London radical reform movement during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He functioned as a bookseller, printer, publisher, writer and editor of cheap political literature, thereby contributing to the enlightenment of the lower classes and spreading the ideas of freedom, equality and popular rights amongst the grass roots of society. As a political protagonist, Eaton was a constant thorn in the Establishment's side and faced no fewer than eight legal prosecutions between 1793 and 1814. Many aspects of this man's life have hitherto remained unexplored or unexplained. This study will follow his amazing career from a discussion of his respectable family background, through his triumphs and tragedies as a radical, to his demise and legacy. As far as possible, Eaton's personal life is incorporated into the story of his professional and political career. At various times, Daniel Isaac appears as a father and a husband, as well as a connecting link between the worlds of polite and plebeian radicalism, the brunt of official repression and intimidation, the focus of government spies and the hero of the common people. His years as a radical give some idea of the importance of and the dangers that confronted those who worked in the radical book trades. Through the fearless and selfless efforts of Eaton and his colleagues, the ideas of Thomas Paine, John Thelwall and William Godwin, for instance, reached a mass audience. Without such intrepidity, the freedom of the British press and other popular liberties could have been lost forever.