Rural Rides is the book for which the reformer William Cobbett is best known. William Cobbett, portrait in oils possibly by George Cooke around 1831. ...

Cobbett, an anti-Corn Law campaigner, wrote down what he noted in a series of rides through the English countryside. He first published his observations in serial form in the Political Register running from 1822 to 1826. They were published in book form in 1830. The Corn Laws, in force between 1815 and 1846, were import tariffs ostensibly designed to protect British farmers and landowners, against competition from cheap foreign grain imports. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...