English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit, 1850-1980

by Martin J. Wiener

• ISBN13: 9780521604796
• ISBN10: 0521604796
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

England was the world’s first great industrial nation. Yet the English have never been comfortable with industrialism. Drawing upon a wide array of sources, Martin Wiener explores the English ambivalence to modern industrial society. His work reveals a pervasive middle- and upper-class frame of mind hostile to industrialism and economic growth. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the present, this frame of mind shaped a broad spectrum of cultural expression, including literature, journalism, and architecture, as well as social, historical, and economic thought. Now in a new edition, Wiener reflects on the original debate surrounding the work and examines the historiography of the last twenty years. Written in a graceful and accessible style, with reference to a broad range of people and ideas, this book will be of interest to all readers who wish to understand the development - and predicament - of modern England.

Table of Contents

Part I. The Setting: 1. The Janus face of modern English culture

2. Victorial society: accommodation and absorption

Part II. A World View: 3. A counter-revolution of values

4. The 'English way of life'?

5. The wrong path?

Part III. Toward Behavior: 6. Images and politics

7. The gentrification of the industrialist

Part IV. Industrialism and English Values: 8. An overview and an assessment.