The Peasants' Revolt was the greatest mass rebellion in British history. Throughout June and July 1381, 60,000 men and women from as far afield as Yorkshire and Norfolk rampaged across the country in response to the attempted collection of the hated 'Poll Tax'. But this was not just a revolt of peasants and workmen. Many prosperous men and women, especially Londoners, used the 'Great Rising' as a cover for private acts of score-settling and criminality. Alastair Dunn re-examines the aims of the rebels, their bizarre acts of ritualistic violence and the unusual personalities of their charismatic leaders.