Riot 1816

RIOT 1816 is a play written for Radio by Roger Rix. It chronicles the infamous riots that occured in the fenland village of Littleport iin May 1816.The eruption of Mount Tambora in Sumatra in April 1815 had caused a calamitous weather event that encircled the entire globe. So great was the disaster that the year 1816 became known as "The year without a summer"! Harvests failed and people in the countryside starved. The riots in Littlepport were a direct consequence of this calamity. The government in London responded with brutal severity. Fearing a nationwide revolution it acted with draconian speed. Five of the rioters were hung and dozens more jailed or transported to Australia. The text of the play closely follows contemporary accounts of the events including the transcripts of the trial of the rioters and, wherever possible, the actual words of the participants are used. Although written as a play for radio, it can be enjoyed as an exciting up-to-the-minute account of a remarkable and tragic event, of interest to students of social history as well as general readers. Copies are available from Amazon as well as Clear Space Direct.