Introduction
This introductory chapter suggests that the form of the serial is more pervasive in early nineteenth-century culture than has been recognized. Starting with the growing popularity of print serials, the introduction suggests the category of seriality can be applied beyond print and used more widely to think about an emergent political and social culture in London after the Napoleonic Wars. A survey of theoretical work on seriality from different subject areas is used to show that disciplinization has tended to obscure the extent and depth of the social and political effects of seriality. The introduction suggests that the idea of an ‘historical present’ is created by a growing daily news culture and an emergent popular interest in history which were vitally connected by their serial formats.