Uproar!: Satire, scandal and printmakers in Georgian England

Alice Loxton has the knack of choosing an aspect of life to describe a particular time frame in British history. In Uproar! the author investigates the lives and works of artists and satirists, particularly Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827), James Gillray (1756-1815), and Issac Cruikshank (1764-1811), who recorded aspects of British history in satirical caricatures. 

During the long reign of George III (1760-1820) artists created caricatures of people and events which were displayed in print shops to view and purchase. Some were compiled into books. Artists such as Rowlandson, Gillray and Cruikshank had the ability to quickly sketch a likeness of a person who was then portrayed in a satirical image. The images were then engraved on plates to be quickly printed, displayed and sold. 

This was the time of the American Revolution, the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, William Pitt the younger as prime minister dealing with a raucous opposition led by James Fox, the Gordon riots, industrial revolution, British abolition of the slave trade and the Regency period when the king was unable to rule. Plenty of material for the satirists to work with. However, by the Victorian period, attitudes had changed and the demand for the work of caricaturists had diminished. Eventually cartoons appeared in newspapers and magazines such as Punch and feature in daily newspapers today.

Uproar! provides a detailed account of the lives of the three main caricaturists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Copies of many of their caricatures appear throughout the book. Through telling the story of the lives of the artists, the author also provides an overview of life in Britain at the time including events in other parts of the world impacting on life in Britain. Detailed notes, a bibliography and index are at the back of the book.