The main authors of this study were initially interested in writing the text because they believed that historians of British reform movements had devoted insufficient attention to monuments. They regarded this as a weakness in the writing of modern British history.

Examining monuments, including statues, plaques and tombstones, commemorating a variety of popular movements and reforming individuals, Contested Sites reveals the relations that went into the making of public memory in modern Britain and its radical tradition. Despite recent advances in the understanding of the importance of symbols in public discourse, these political monuments have received scant attention from historians of British radical reform.

'... Tyrell's solid and important volume should inspire further work in this compelling field.' Journal of British Studies