The Radical Potter, Tristram Hunt
The Radical Potter, Tristram Hunt
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

The Radical Potter
The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood

Author: Tristram Hunt

Narrator: Julian Elfer

Unabridged: 10 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/26/2022

Synopsis

From one of Britain's leading historians and the director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, a scintillating biography of Josiah Wedgwood, the celebrated eighteenth-century potter, entrepreneur, and abolitionist

Wedgwood's pottery, such as his celebrated light-blue jasperware, is famous worldwide. Jane Austen bought it and wrote of it in her novels; Empress Catherine II of Russia ordered hundreds of pieces for her palace. But the life of Josiah Wedgwood is far richer than just his accomplishments in ceramics. He was a leader of the Industrial Revolution, a pioneering businessman, a cultural tastemaker, and a tireless scientific experimenter whose inventions made him a fellow of the Royal Society. He was also an ardent abolitionist, whose Emancipation Badge medallion—depicting an enslaved African and inscribed "Am I Not a Man and a Brother?"—became the most popular symbol of the antislavery movement on both sides of the Atlantic. And he did it all in the face of chronic disability and relentless pain: a childhood bout with smallpox eventually led to the amputation of his right leg.

Drawing on a rich array of letters, journals, and historical documents, The Radical Potter brings us the story of a singular man, his dazzling contributions to design and innovation, and his remarkable global impact.

About Tristram Hunt

Tristram Hunt is the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum and one of Britain's best-known historians. Until taking on the leadership of the V&A, he served as a member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent, the home of Wedgwood's potteries. A senior lecturer in British history at Queen Mary University of London, he appears regularly on BBC radio and television.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Martin on September 11, 2021

This is an interesting and well written book and it is true to its title. There is a lot in this book about his position as a dissenter, as a member of the Birmingham Lunar Society and the whole ethos of that time - which rather slows down the narrative of the more exciting story of Wedgwood's life......more

Goodreads review by Ben on January 26, 2022

Excuse my English, but fucking hell, the epilogue in this was infuriating. In the midst of the current scandal and the further gutting of our heritage and civic pride, I struggled to read the last 20 pages (solemnly chronicling Wedgwood's great decline post-Josiah's death, particularly 1980s onward)......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on November 28, 2021

Entrepreneur. Successful businessman. Experimental scientist and member of the Royal Society. Iconic trendsetter and potter to a queen. And, an ardent abolitionist. Josiah Wedgewood was all that. He also accomplished it all with a wooden leg after small pox lead to an infection that resulted in an a......more

Goodreads review by Sharon on October 22, 2021

Josiah Wedgwood grew up in a family of potters. He was the youngest of twelve children. As a child he contracted small pocks, which left is leg lame and was unable to throw the clay to the potters wheel. This was a blessing. Now Josiah could deal with the finer points of pottery making. The Wedgewood......more

Goodreads review by Martin on July 08, 2023

An impressive biography about a central but often overlooked person in British history. Hunt uses the life of Josiah Wedgwood I as a peg for a general description of central issues in 18th century British history such as the Industrial Revolution, technology and science, aesthetics, radicalism and no......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List