Frankenstein: Texts and Contexts

The role that food played in the migration of German immigrants to the United States.

A broadside ballad against rioting for bread.

The results of a British government survey, indicating great distress in the rural areas.

Chapter VII describes poor harvests and rural unrest (pp. 91-96).

Describes the terrible economic conditions in the years following the end of Napoleonic Wars.

Contains information on the economic distress and riots of the postwar period. See Chapter V.

Provides useful information on the 1815 Corn Law which forbade the importation of cheaper foreign grain.

An anonymous pamphlet describing the causes of popular discontent.

Shows how past climate disruptions have destabilized societies through food shortages, hunger, disease, and political upheaval.

See "A Review of the Present Ruined Condition of the Landed and Agricultural Interests" (pp. 127-)

Trials, verdicts, and punishments from London's most famous court. Search keyword "bread" and specify a data span (January 1816-December 1817, for instance).

Simon Fairlie describes how the progressive enclosure of commons over several centuries has deprived most British people of access to agricultural land.