Private Lives, Public Spirit A Social History of Britain 1870-1914

by Harris, José

• ISBN13: 9780198204121
• ISBN10: 0198204124
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-07-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a lively and original new study of the social history of Britain between 1870 and 1914, cogently organized and well written. Harris, while not underestimating the impact of the First World War, demonstrates that many of the far-reaching social changes apparent afterwards actually had their origins in the 1870s and 1880s. She identifies important trends and movements, providing a valuable overview of late Victorian and Edwardian society. At the same time, she conveys a sense of idosyncrasy, nuance, and diversity. While the period has often been regarded as one of great moral and political certainty, Harris reveals the doubts of its contemporaries. She shows that in many respects Great Britain at this period was a ramshackle and amorphous society, characterized by a myriad contradictory opinions. A vivid and compelling depiction of Britain in the period before the First World War, this book makes absorbing reading.

Author Biography

Jose Harris is Reader in Modern History and Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Themes and Interpretations: An Overview of British Society, 1870-1914	p. 1
Continuity and change	p. 1
The impact of Empire	p. 4
The emergence of class	p. 6
Individualism and collectivism	p. 11
From 'Ancient Constitution' to 'Great Society'	p. 13
The nationalization of culture	p. 17
Sex and Gender	p. 23
'Modernity' and the 'lost domain'	p. 32
Paradox and plurality	p. 37
Victorians and Edwardians	p. 38
Demography, Death, and Disease	p. 41
People and cities	p. 41
Patterns of fertility	p. 45
Patterns of mortality	p. 50
Society, sickness, and medicine	p. 54
Family and Household	p. 61
The 'Victorian' family	p. 61
Family size and structure	p. 62
Domestic economy	p. 67
Patriarchalism	p. 73
Motherhood	p. 79
Childhood	p. 84
Sexual relations	p. 89
Family life	p. 91
Property	p. 96
Perceptions of property	p. 96
The distribution of property	p. 97
Aristocratic property	p. 100
Middle-class property	p. 106
Working-class property	p. 110
Property and politics	p. 116
Work	p. 123
Work and gentility	p. 123
Structure, skill, and organization	p. 126
Alienation, leisure, and the work ethic	p. 134
Industrial relations	p. 140
Work and the 'working class'	p. 145
Culture and context	p. 147
Religion	p. 150
The issue of 'secularization'	p. 150
The sociology of church attendance	p. 153
The churches and civic culture	p. 161
The structure of belief	p. 169
Religion and society	p. 177
Society and the State	p. 180
The social bases of the state	p. 180
The mid-Victorian state	p. 183
Changing political culture	p. 187
Contraction and expansion	p. 196
Finance, bureaucracy, and social policy	p. 201
Crime, law, and police	p. 208
Ambiguities of power	p. 215
Society and Social Theory	p. 220
The problem of 'society'	p. 220
Atomism, organicism, and social evolution	p. 223
Historicism and idealism	p. 226
Social theory and the 'social problem'	p. 230
The language of race	p. 233
Perceptions of poverty	p. 237
Decay and degeneration	p. 241
Society, liberty, and character: Echoes of Greece and Rome	p. 245
Conclusion	p. 251
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 277
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.