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Thursday 5 January 2012

Society under Pressure: Britain 1830-1914

Nineteenth Century British Society is a series of five e-books that seek to explain the major social developments that occurred during the nineteenth and early-twentieth century. It extends the ideas and chronological scope that I originally put forward in my studies of Britain’s social and economic development originally published in 1987, 1991 and 1992.[1] It also develops information contained in my blog: http://richardjohnbr.wordpress.com/. Nineteenth Century British Society consists of five volumes:

Volume 1: Economy, Population and Transport

Volume 2: Work, Health and Poverty

Volume 3: Education, Crime and Leisure

Volume 4: Class

Volume 5: Religion and Government

As a cheaper alternative for those who do not wish to buy the series as separate e-books, this volume brings together the five volumes into a single composite volume enabling readers to purchase a single e-book. The opening chapters provide the economic context for the book especially the character of economic change and continuity. This is followed by three chapters that consider demographic, agricultural and industrial and communication developments during the nineteenth century. The next tranche of chapters examine the social problems created by changes in towns, the public’s health, housing, poverty, the nature of work, education and crime and leisure and the ways in which government sought to regulate these activities. Chapter 17 draws on these chapters and provides an overview of the nature of government in the nineteenth and early-twentieth century as it grappled with the practicalities of social reform. Religion is the subject of Chapters 18 and 19 while Chapters 20-23 consider the nature of class in the nineteenth century. The book ends with a chapter on the end of the nineteenth century.

Religion and Government published

The fifth and final volume of Nineteenth Century British Society has now been published on Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Religion-Government-Nineteenth-Century-ebook/dp/B006TI5OO4/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325717478&sr=1-2

This volume looks at the effects that economic changes had on people’s attitude to religion and how the character of government underwent a revolution in organisation and ideology. It explores the pressures experienced by Anglicanism, Nonconformity and Roman Catholicism in the decades leading up to the Religious Census of 1851 and particularly the state of working-class religious attitudes. It then examines the extent to which religion was in decline after 1851 and asks whether there was a ‘crisis of faith’. Finally, the nature of government and especially how and why it responded to pressures for a national approach to the development of social reform with the shift from a laissez faire approach to one in which there was a more collectivist response.

The book is divided into three chapters:

  1. Churches under pressure

  2. Religion in Decline?

  3. Government

Further Reading identifies the most valuable books on these subjects while the detailed notes provide a guide for further research