Writing on the Wall cover art

Writing on the Wall

Graffiti, Rebellion and the Making of Eighteenth-Century Britain

 Preview

Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends April 30, 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £7.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Writing on the Wall

By: Madeleine Pelling
Narrated by: Madeleine Pelling
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£7.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends April 30, 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £13.99

Buy Now for £13.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

What if walls could talk? For historian Madeleine Pelling, they can – if you know where to look.

A brilliant new cultural history of the long 18th-century, Writing on the Wall is told through the marks its citizens left behind, bringing into focus lost voices from the highest to the lowest in society. From the centre of London to the islands of the Caribbean, Pelling goes in search of graffiti, evidence of how ordinary people experienced the world-changing events that defined their lives – from political prisoners to sex workers, homesick sailors, Romantic poets and the artisans of the industrial revolution.

Here are lives, loves, triumphs and failures, scratched into the walls of prisons and latrines, chalked up on doors and etched into windows. The names of their creators may be lost to history, but together they tell the real story of Britain's most rebellious and transformative century.

©2024 Madeleine Pelling (P)2024 Bolinda Publishing Europe Great Britain England Caribbean

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Great and Horrible News cover art
Jane Austen at Home cover art
Crypt cover art
Goddess with a Thousand Faces cover art
Strangeland cover art
Ghost Stories: Stephen Fry's Definitive Collection cover art
Everyday Life in Medieval London cover art

Critic reviews

'Fascinating ... not only a history of graffiti, but also a history of the 18th century through lost voices of the people who lived through it.' (The Times)
'From the ingenious starting point of a humble scratch on glass or daub on brick, Madeleine Pelling crafts a rich and complex portrait of a society in transition.' (Jacqueline Riding, author of Hogarth: A Life in Progress)
'An erudite, dazzling and thought-provoking study of the graffiti of the period – be its creator Romantic poet or Jacobite, King Mob or Caribbean prisoner of war, Pelling teases out lost narratives with humanity and flair.' (Flora Fraser, author of Pretty Young Rebel)
'An extraordinary history of ordinary people. In this original and impressive study of eighteenth-century graffiti, Pelling foregrounds the protestors, prisoners, rebels and romantics who all left their unique mark on the past.' (Hannah Grieg, historian and consultant on Bridgerton and The Favourite)

What listeners say about Writing on the Wall

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews

Amazon reviews
Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Amazon Customer

Excellent

Maddy Pelling is a wonderful podcaster and author. This book takes a deep dive into the history and reasons behind why people in the eighteenth century decided to leave their marks on the walls. Maddy paints vivid pictures that brings the words on the walls to life.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Gwyn Defriez

Fascinating look into a lesser spoken on part of history

As somebody who enjoys Pelling’s work from after dark, and whose love of past graffiti was borne from many hours in Lincoln cathedral, the unexpected (though perhaps not shocking) overlap was obviously something I had to check out. As somebody who often struggles with voices, Madeleine’s delivery was wonderful, being informative without being too stuffy.

Report this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!