During the Luddite and Peterloo period, many radical activists were ex-servicemen of the Napoleonic Wars. This year’s Luddite Memorial Lecture, titled Both Sides of the Barricade, looked at the soldiers and ex-servicemen in early nineteenth-century popular politics.

During the evening, Professor Nick Mansfield of the University of Central Lancashire, the author of a two-volume labour history of rank-and-file soldiers, highlighted many of the ‘military radicals’ and outlined how the conflict played out over the decades that followed.

The event took place on Monday 24 April 2023, in the Oastler Building (OA4/02) of the University of Huddersfield.

The Luddite Memorial Lecture is an annual event organised jointly by Huddersfield Local History Society and the University of Huddersfield. Find out more.

Above: Professor Nick Mansfield, the books which formed the basis of his lecture, and a contemporary image. Photos: Janette Martin. Click for larger images.