So this week we are back with chapter 14, sorry 15.

Good start game.

Yeah, thanks.

Demagogues and martyrs.

It's another of these very long chapters.

And we're here like squarely in the post-war,

post-1815 period. So Thompson begins the chapter, I think kind of dramatically.

The wars ended amidst riots.

They had lasted with one interval for 23 years, which is pretty extraordinary.

You know, I mean, the war between Britain and France

goes on for over a whole generation.

And it's like total war by the standards of the period anyway.

You know, it's being fought obviously on the

European continent but also in various ways overseas and it's just like massive mobilization huge naval war.

And I feel like we've gotten throughout the book.

Thompson is sort of saying,

oh, the horrible social toll, the horrible social toll of this war, you know, prices and

conscription and all these things, taxes. But you know, 23 years is just an extremely long time and it makes sense that I feel like it was getting to the end of it. It made more sense to me why the war is such a crucible of radicalization.

Anyway, the point that he's making here is he says during the passage of the

corn laws in 1815 the passage of the corn laws in 1815, the houses of Parliament were

defended with troops from menacing crowds, thousands of disbanded soldiers and

sailors returned to find unemployment in their villages. the next four years are the heroic age of

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