Empire, State, and Society: Britain since 1830

In the nineteenth century, Great Britain was a world–recognized superpower. Tremendous economic growth fostered a daunting formal empire, global networks of trade and investment, and a formidable military. By the late twentieth century this position of dominance had eroded significantly under the stress of two world wars, rising nationalist movements, shifting geopolitics, and the transformation to a post–industrial economy. As Britain adjusts to her new place in the post–colonial world, Empire, State, and Society assesses the external and internal forces behind these transformations.

The authors draw on the most recent scholarship to give due importance to social, economic, and cultural changes as well as politics and international diplomacy. Divided into chapters both chronologically and thematically, Empire, State, and Society enables detailed exploration of issues such as race, gender, religion, and the environment. In doing so, the book provides an accessible, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to British history.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

1 Britain to 1830 4

2 Universal Suffrage and No Surrender: Politics at Home and Abroad, 1830 1867 30

3 Dark Satanic Mills? Economic and Social Change, 1830 1867 52

4 Utilitarians, Evangelicals, and Empire: Intellectual and Cultural Developments, 1830 1867 70

5 Democracy and Empire: Politics, 1867 1910 91

6 The Decline of the Aristocracy: Economic and Social Change, 1867 1910 110

7 Faith and Doubt? Cultural Change, 1867 1910 125

8 In Flanders Fields: Britain and the Great War, 1910 1918 147

9 Nationalism and Depression: Politics, Economics, and Social Change, 1919 1939 168

10 Culture and Ideas between the Wars, 1919 1939 191

11 London Burning: Britain in the Second WorldWar 206

12 Winds of Change: Politics, 1945 1979 222

13 Building a Welfare State: Society and the Economy, 1945 1979 242

14 Meet the Beatles: Cultural and Intellectual Developments, 1945 1979 259

15 From Rule Britannia to Cool Britannia: Politics, 1979 2007 277

16 Whither Britain? Society and Culture since 1979 296

Appendix: Reigns and Ministries since 1830 312

Bibliography 315

Index 330

Jamie L. Bronstein is Professor of History at New Mexico State University. She is the author of three books: Land Reform and Working–Class Experience in Britain and the United States, 1800–1862 (1999), Caught in the Machinery: Workplace Accidents and Injured Workers in Nineteenth–Century Britain (2008), and Transatlantic Radical: John Francis Bray (2009).

 Andrew T. Harris is Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Bridgewater State University. He is the author of Policing the City: Crime and Legal Authority in London, 1780–1840 (2004).   

Nevertheless, for those looking for a concise, coherent, and accessible introduction to 19th– and 20th–century British history at the undergraduate level, this book is definitely worthy of serious consideration.   Summing Up: Highly recommended.  All undergraduate collections.   (Choice, 1 September 2012)