Book excerpt: A compelling account of the relationship of language and politics, this study illustrates how language reinforced class distinctions in 18th- and 19th-century England. During this repressive period, concepts of vulgar and refined language reinforced class distinctions and, at moments of political conflict--such as trials for sedition--these ideas were used to deny political and social rights to those deemed "vulgar." Smith also examines the radical literati and self-educated leaders who challenged the accepted "politics of language"--among them Wordsworth, Coleridge, Spence, and Cobbett.