RADICAL POTTER: JOSIAH WEDGWOOD (PB)

From his kilns and workshops in Stoke-on-Trent, Josiah Wedgwood revolutionized the production of ceramics, transformed the luxury markets, and helped to usher in a mass consumer society. But Wedgwood was radical in more than his designs. He campaigned for free trade and religious toleration, and created the ceramic 'Emancipation Badge', depicting a slave in chains and inscribed 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?' that became the symbol of the abolitionist movement. This biography captures the energy and originality of Wedgwood and his extraordinary contribution to the transformation of eighteenth-century Britain.