Arts and Arms: Literature, Politics and Patriotism During the Seven Years War

This study examines the political controversies of the Seven Years War as reflected in contemporary British poetry, ballads, fiction, drama, and prose satire. It investigates their authorship, patronage, publication, and distribution, including dissemination through the press and via political prints. The literary works in question demonstrate a great diversity in authorship and political sophistication, with patrons and writers extending from members of the parliamentary classes through the professional and commercial orders, to semi-literate ballad-singers. Genres range from high political satire and parodies of parliamentary debates to popular ballads and verse graffiti; in all they reveal a thriving literary-political culture, which embraced all stations of society. Protagonists featured include William Pitt, Henry Fox, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Bute, George II & III, and Britain's ally Frederick II of Prussia.