Before his untimely death in the summer of 2006, Peter Jupp was widely recognised as one of the key influences in the recovery of British and Irish political history in the 'long' 18th century. His unrivalled knowledge of collections in public and private archives had made him well-nigh indispensable to several generations of historians. This volume had initially been conceived to mark Peter's retirement after 40 years service to Queen's University Belfast. With his sudden passing, it became all the more important to acknowledge appropriately the true extent and depth of Peter's contribution -- as lecturer, researcher, author and mentor. These essays are now published to celebrate that achievement. They focus on the themes in which he himself was interested: elections and parliament; reaction and reform; political biography; the history of print and ideas; crowds and popular movements. Moreover, they relate to a period, the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries and the changing nature of relations between Ireland and Great Britain, so crucial to an understanding of contemporary affairs, all of which has been so handsomely illuminated by Peter''s published work.
