Foreword; 1. Retrenchment: 1850-1868 2. Ideas 3. Transition: 1868-1880 4. Class 5. Religion 6. Culture 7. Socialism: 1880-1895 8. Labour: 1885-1900; Postscript: 1900-1914; Select Bibliography; Notes; Index
Biography
David Kynaston was born in Aldershot in 1951. He has been a professional historian since 1973 and has written eighteen books, including The City of London (1994-2001), a widely acclaimed four-volume history, and W.G.'s Birthday Party, an account of the Gentleman vs. the Players at Lord's in July 1898. He is the author of Austerity Britain, 1945-51, the first title in a series of books covering the history of post-war Britain (1945-1979) under the collective title 'Tales of a New Jerusalem'. He is currently a visiting professor at Kingston University.
"An excellent text…A lively, sensible, mostly very readable, and occasionally quirky interpretation that can be warmly recommended…Intelligent and sophisticated." John Saville, Business History Review
"A treasury of quotable excerpts and fine vignettes…Some fine judgments and neatly pointed epigrams." Sidney Pollard, Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History
"Full of interesting detail and most readable." John Lovell, Economic History Review
"A lively account, with a great deal of vivid description and quotation." Henry Pelling, Journal of Economic History
"He writes briskly, compresses skilfully, has a keen instinct for appropriate quotations, and moves with confidence over a number of different aspects of working-class life during the second half of the nineteenth century." Peter Keating, Times Literary Supplement
"A mine from which the reader can dig many nuggets of suggestive, sometimes startling information…Altogether a most serviceable enterprise." Martin Fagg, Times Educational Supplement
"Deeply committed but attractively sophisticated…Rich and relevant use of contemporary careers and ideas…Good writing and well-reasoned burrowing into empirical material." Economist
