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The name of Robin Hood is known the world over. Yet it was Ritson whose research in the late eighteenth century ensured the survival of the Robin Hood legend. He travelled all over the country looking for ancient manuscripts which told of the life and deeds of England's most famous outlaw. Without his efforts, the legend of Robin Hood might have gone the way of other medieval outlaws such as Adam Bell - famous in their day but not so much now.  Yet this is not only a story about the formation of the Robin Hood legend. Ritson's story is one of rags to riches. Born in humble circumstances, his aptitude for learning meant that he rose through society's ranks and became a successful lawyer, local official, and a gentleman.  However, underneath the genteel and bourgeois facade of Joseph Ritson, Esq. was a revolutionary: having travelled to Paris at the height of the French Revolution, he was captivated by the revolutionaries' ideology of liberte, egalite, fraternite. 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The supposedly refined aristocracy governed the nation while the bourgeoisie, at the centre of the largest empire the world had ever known, expanded the nation's overseas trading interests while currying royal favours. It was an era which witnessed the flowering of art, literature, and music. But at the heart of the British Empire was something rotten: Vice, corruption, and crime reigned supreme.  Someone had had enough and decided to expose this and so, in 1832, a curious book appeared for sale titled The Secret History of the Court of England. Written by Olivia Serres under the pseudonym of  Lady Anne Hamilton,  this was a sensational chronicle of the crime, vice, and debauchery designed to shock and titillate its reader. It contained a number of accusations against establishment figures: Was George IV guilty of bigamy? What was the Prince's true relationship with one Mrs Robinson? Did the Duke of Cumberland's servant Mr Sellis really commit suicide or was he MURERED IN COLD BLOOD? 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