When I was growing up, my knowledge of the Edwardian period was embodied by a single large English penny in my small coin collection. On the back, Britannia was serenely seated with shield and trident on a throne, as she had been on other English pennies for the century before this coin was struck. On the well-worn front was the massive head of a man, in profile, with an impressive beard and high forehead: Edward VII. I was aware that this king had ruled for only ten years and I was convinced that nothing of importance could have happened during his reign.

I was, of course, wrong. The first decade of the twentieth century in England was a period of radical change, in several senses of the word. At the beginning of the decade, the landed elite still had a firm if nervous grip on power. Against them were arrayed a multifarious assortment of liberals, radicals, and reformers: Chartists, Fabians, Socialists, nihilists, Communists, Bolsheviks, home rulers, trade unionists, and suffragists. And on the extreme fringe of these left-wing factions were the Anarchists.

Unlike the others, the Anarchists had no real plan for social change, only a dream. In fact, their basic philosophy more or less prohibited the formation of a plan, for a plan would require organization and the Anarchist creed insisted that all forms of organization, even those as basic as the family, had to be abolished. The dream went something like this: One day the revolution would come, the state would be swept away, the people would be free from oppression, and all would be well. Man’s darker nature (which was the result of oppressive government) would be brightened, and evil would vanish. There was no point in attempts at reform; indeed, reform merely postponed the inevitable revolution.

Anarchists sought to hasten the revolution in two ways: by propaganda of the word (education), and by propaganda of the deed (violence). English Anarchists seem to have contented themselves mostly with the former: countless meetings, lectures, marches, banners, leaflets, and of course, newspapers. They could adopt this milder approach because England had pursued a relatively tolerant course in dealing with political dissent, while in Spain, Russia, and elsewhere, protest was rewarded with the garrote and firing squad. The Continental Anarchist turned terrorist and resorted to bombs and assassinations, while Britannia watched nervously.

In England, ultimately, it was the more moderate forces that swept away the monopoly of power held by the upper class. Unions were organized and strikes provided the workers with real economic power. The franchise was extended. Liberal and even radical politicians gained seats in the House of Commons, at first a few seats, and then a great many. For a few years, their programs were frustrated by the hereditary House of Lords, but finally, under the threat of the creation of massive numbers of liberal peerages by the King, the Lords allowed passage of the Reform Bill and ceased to exist as a significant political power. The social revolution had come, almost without bloodshed, and the Anarchists, left without a cause, slowly faded away.

REFERENCES

Here are a few books that we found helpful in creating Death in Hyde Park. If you have comments or questions, you may write to Bill and Susan Albert, PO Box 1616, Bertram TX 78605, or e-mail us at [email protected]. You may also wish to visit our website, www.mysterypartners.com.

Bentley-Cranch, Dana. Edward VII: Image of an Era 1841-1910. London: HMSO, 1992.

Dangerfield, George. The Strange Death of Liberal England 1910- 1914. New York: Capricorn Books, 1935.

Heffer, Simon. Power and Place: the Political Consequences of King Edward VII. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998.

Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. London: Kodansha International, 1990.

Horn, Pamela. Victorian Countrywomen. London: Basil Blackwell, 1991.

Kerslaw, Alex. Jack London: A Life. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1997.

Leeson, Sergeant B. Lost London: The Memoirs of an East End Dectective. London: Stanley Paul & Ltd., 1997.

London, Jack. The God of His Fathers. Garden City, NY: Double-day, Page & Co., 1901.

London, Jack. The People of the Abyss. New York: Macmillan, 1903.

Mayhew, Henry. London Labor and the London Poor. London: Griffin, Bohn, and Co., 1851.

Meredith, Isabel. A Girl Among the Anarchists. London: Duckworth & Co., 1903.

Quail, John. The Slow Burning Fuse. London: Granada Publishing, 1978.

Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives, Studies of the Tenements of New York. Reprint edition. New York: Hill and Wang, 1890.

Sims, George R., ed. Edwardian London. Vol. 1, “ Russia in East London,” by Count E. Armfelt, and “ London ’s Clubs for Women,” by Sheila E. Braine, reprint edition. London: The Village Press, ND.

Stone, Irving. Jack London, Sailor on Horseback. New York: Signet, 1938.

Thorwald, Jurgen. The Century of the Detective. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1964.

Robin Paige