Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Bristol : The Radical Poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge is today seen as one of the most important poets in the English language but in 1794, when the young Coleridge arrived in Bristol, he was homeless and broke, recovering from an unrequited love affair. He was 21 years old, had dropped out of Cambridge and been unceremoniously discharged from the Light Dragoons, who recorded him as insane. Bristol was a city in social ferment, affected by food shortages and riots against the backdrop of war against France, where radicals were regarded with fear following the recent French Revolution.

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge in Bristol: The Radical Years the reader is taken through Coleridge’s years in Bristol, a formative and exciting time in his life. He was raw and radical, a brilliant lecturer and fierce activist, developing his craft as a poet. The book also includes a guided tour around the city, highlighting the landmarks associated with Coleridge in his early years and his return two decades later. The book provides a fresh insight into Coleridge’s development as well as fascinating guide to Bristol in an age of great change.