BBC Radio 4 - Peterloo: The Massacre That Changed Britain

Katharine Viner charts the story of the infamous 1819 Peterloo Massacre.

1. The Build Up - 11am Friday 2 August
2. The Aftermath - 11am Friday 9 August


Plus BBC Radio 4; A Poet Laureate's Peterloo

Carol Ann Duffy is to lead a host of performers in a special BBC Radio 4 programme marking the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre.

A Poet Laureate's Peterloo, presented by Barnsley poet Ian McMillan, will feature the outgoing Poet Laureate together with brand new commissions from the Mercury nominated singer-songwriter ?Kathryn Williams, the poets Clare Shaw and Mark Pajak, and from Duffy herself.?

Each will offer 21st century responses to the events of August 16th 1819 in Manchester, when a peaceful pro-democracy rally, made up of thousands of men, women and ?children, was attacked by an armed cavalry. Eighteen people were killed, and hundreds injured.

Also appearing will be Robert Poole, Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire and author of ‘Peterloo'.

The programme will be recorded on July 30th at Friends Meeting House in Manchester, where you ?can still see a wall that witnessed the massacre.?