William Cobbett (1763-1835) was an English political pamphleteer, farmer and prolific journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym Peter Porcupine. He was born at Farnham, Surrey. He believed that the reform of Parliament and the abolition of the rotten boroughs would help cure the poverty of the farm labourers. He constantly attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters". He opposed the Corn Laws, a tax on imported grain. Through the many apparent inconsistencies in Cobbett"s life, one strand continued to run: an ingrained opposition to authority and a suspicion of novelty. Early in his career, he was a "loyalist" supporter of King and Country; later, he joined (and successfully publicised) the radical movement which led to the Reform Bill of 1832 and him winning the parliamentary seat of Oldham. He is best known today for his book Rural Rides (1830). His other works include: Observations on the Emigration of Dr. Priestley (1794), A Bone to Gnaw for the Democrats...