Modern Britain : A Social History 1750-2011

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Praise for the first edition:
'Royle calls on an impressive range of materials (supported by an excellent bibliography) to offer a judicious review of most of the issues currently confronted by social historians. His agenda contains both traditional and novel elements [...] all are presented with admirable clarity and balance. [...] A volume which shows an astonishing command of such a wide range of material will long prove essential reading.'
Times Literary Supplement
This popular work provides an in-depth historical background to issues of contemporary concern, tracing developments over the past two and a half centuries. It promotes accessibility by adopting a thematic approach, with each theme treated chronologically. Major themes are chosen partly by their importance to an understanding of the past and partly by their relevance to students of contemporary Britain - rather than by imposing current fashions in historical study on the past. Thoroughly revised, the third edition of Modern Britain reviews and brings up to date the content to take account of developments since 1997 and reconsiders emphases and interpretations in light of more recent scholarship. It incorporates new currents in historical writing on matters such as the language of class, the position of women, and the revolution worked by the Internet and mobile technologies. Modern Britain is vital reading for students of history and the social and political sciences.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Maps and Tables (p. xiii)
• Maps (p. xiv)
• Preface (p. xviii)
• Part 1 The Changing Environment (p. 1)
• 1 The Countryside (p. 3)
• The age of enclosure and improvement, 1750-1830 (p. 3)
• The Victorian countryside, 1830-1914 (p. 5)
• The twentieth-century countryside (p. 7)
• Environmental concerns and countryside issues (p. 9)
• The changing nature of land ownership (p. 11)
• 2 Transportation (p. 15)
• Turnpikes and canals, 1750-1830 (p. 15)
• The railway age, 1830-1914 (p. 17)
• Urban transport (p. 19)
• Passenger transport by road in the twentieth century (p. 21)
• Goods transport by road in the twentieth century (p. 23)
• Private road transport (p. 24)
• Rail transport in modern Britain (p. 25)
• Sea and air (p. 26)
• 3 Urbanisation (p. 28)
• The growth of an urban society (p. 28)
• The urban environment, 1750-1830 (p. 31)
• Urban development in the age of the railway (p. 34)
• The built environment (p. 36)
• The motor car and the modern city (p. 41)
• 4 Industrialisation (p. 43)
• The first industrial revolution (p. 43)
• The workshop of the world (p. 45)
• Decay and renewal (p. 46)
• Part 2 People (p. 49)
• 5 The Population Question (p. 51)
• Counting the people before the census (p. 51)
• Population size and growth, 1750-1830 (p. 52)
• Population trends, 1841-1911 (p. 54)
• Population trends since 1911 (p. 57)
• Population structure (p. 60)
• 6 Households and Families (p. 64)
• Household size and composition (p. 64)
• Illegitimacy (p. 66)
• Marriage and divorce (p. 68)
• 7 Migration (p. 71)
• Migration within Britain before 1830 (p. 71)
• Migration, 1830-1914 (p. 73)
• Migration in the twentieth century (p. 74)
• Emigration before the mid-nineteenth century (p. 76)
• Emigration from the mid-nineteenth century (p. 77)
• Migrants and their motives (p. 78)
• 8 Immigration (p. 82)
• Irish immigrants (p. 83)
• Jewish immigrants (p. 86)
• Towards a multi-ethnic society (p. 89)
• Race, riots and social tensions (p. 94)
• Part 3 Class (p. 99)
• 9 Social and Occupational Structures (p. 101)
• The old order (p. 101)
• The language of class (p. 103)
• The census and social structure (p. 108)
• The structure of employment (p. 111)
• 10 The Making of a Class Society (p. 117)
• The breakdown of the old order (p. 117)
• Class and social theory (p. 119)
• Economic change and the origins of class society (p. 122)
• The making of the working class (p. 123)
• The middle classes (p. 126)
• A viable class society, 1850-1900 (p. 129)
• Class in the early twentieth century (p. 132)
• 11 The Governing Class (p. 135)
• The aristocracy (p. 135)
• Urban government (p. 137)
• Church and State (p. 138)
• The survival of the elite, 1832-86 (p. 138)
• Class and party, 1886-1951 (p. 139)
• 12 The Challenge of Radicalism (p. 141)
• The beginnings of radicalism, 1760-1800 (p. 141)
• Radicalism and class conflict, 1800-50 (p. 144)
• Consensus and compromise, 1850-1900 (p. 148)
• 13 The Organisation of Labour (p. 151)
• Trade societies in the eighteenth century (p. 151)
• Trade unions in the early nineteenth century (p. 152)
• Labour, radicalism and class in the mid-nineteenth century (p. 156)
• Acceptance and consolidation (p. 157)
• Labour representation (p. 163)
• Trade unions in the twentieth century (p. 166)
• 14 Class in Modern Britain (p. 173)
• Towards a classless society? (p. 173)
• Class, party and the governing elite since 1951 (p. 178)
• Class in the twenty-first century (p. 184)
• Part 4 Poverty and Welfare (p. 187)
• 15 Poverty (p. 189)
• The rural poor (p. 190)
• Urban poverty (p. 194)
• The standard of living debate (p. 197)
• Poverty in the twentieth century (p. 201)
• 16 Responses to Poverty (p. 206)
• The old poor law (p. 206)
• The new poor law (p. 211)
• Poor relief in Scotland after 1845 (p. 213)
• Private charity (p. 214)
• Health care (p. 219)
• Self-help (p. 221)
• 17 Welfare and the State (p. 225)
• The growth of the administrative State (p. 225)
• Factory reform (p. 227)
• Public health (p. 230)
• Changing attitudes, 1880-1914 (p. 233)
• The origins of the Welfare State (p. 238)
• The Welfare State (p. 240)
• The crisis of the Welfare State (p. 242)
• 18 Law, Order and Restraint (p. 244)
• Crime and criminals (p. 244)
• The police (p. 252)
• Institutions of restraint (p. 255)
• Prisons 256 Reform Schools (p. 259)
• Asylums (p. 261)
• Part 5 Life and Leisure (p. 265)
• 19 Traditional Manners, Customs and Amusements (p. 267)
• Landed society (p. 267)
• Provincial life (p. 269)
• Horse racing (p. 270'Traditio)
• Artisan life (p. 273)
• 20 The Attack upon Popular Recreations (p. 275)
• Enclosure and urban growth (p. 275)
• Factory discipline (p. 276)
• Moral reform (p. 277)
• Social control (p. 282)
• 21 Reformed Customs and Rational Recreations (p. 284)
• Reformed customs (p. 284)
• Rational pleasures (p. 286)
• Useful knowledge (p. 287)
• Access to the arts (p. 290)
• The theatre (p. 291)
• Music (p. 293)
• Fresh air and fun (p. 295)
• A 'bleak age'? (p. 298)
• 22 Leisure and the Consumer Revolution (p. 299)
• Holidays (p. 300)
• Commercialised pleasures (p. 305)
• Football (p. 306)
• Betting and gambling (p. 308)
• Newspapers, magazines and books (p. 310)
• Music hall, theatre, cinema and radio (p. 315)
• The consumer society (p. 320)
• From reality to reality television (p. 323)
• The e-society (p. 325)
• The way we lived, then and now (p. 330)
• Part 6 Religion (p. 335)
• 23 Religion in the Age of Reason (p. 337)
• The crisis of the established churches (p. 337)
• The weakness of Dissent (p. 340)
• Popular religion (p. 342)
• 24 The Evangelical Revival (p. 345)
• The origins of the revival (p. 345)
• Methodism (p. 347)
• The impact of Methodism (p. 349)
• Evangelicals, politics and reform (p. 351)
• 25 Church and State (p. 354)
• Reform of the Church of England (p. 354)
• The education question in England and Wales (p. 357)
• The Disruption in the Church of Scotland (p. 359)
• 26 Dissent (p. 363)
• Evangelical missions and the rise of denominationalism (p. 363)
• Protestant Dissent in England and Wales, 1851 (p. 364)
• Nonconformity, the Church of England and the Religious Census of 1851 (p. 368)
• Nonconformity in the later nineteenth century (p. 371)
• Scottish Dissent (p. 374)
• Roman Catholicism (p. 376)
• 27 Church and People (p. 378)
• The midwife of class (p. 378)
• The Churches and the working classes (p. 381)
• Working-class religion (p. 385)
• 28 Decline and De-Christianisation (p. 388)
• Institutional patterns in the twentieth century (p. 388)
• De-Christianisation and secularisation (p. 392)
• Religion and sex (p. 398)
• Part 7 Education (p. 401)
• 29 Literacy (p. 403)
• The measurement of literacy (p. 403)
• Levels of literacy and illiteracy (p. 404)
• The demand for literacy (p. 407)
• 30 Elementary Schooling (p. 409)
• Private and informal schooling (p. 409)
• The provision of public elementary education before 1870 (p. 411)
• Elementary education under the School Boards (p. 413)
• Schooling and social class (p. 414)
• 31 Secondary Schools (p. 416)
• The eighteenth-century grammar school (p. 416)
• The public schools (p. 417)
• Middle-class education (p. 419)
• Public examinations (p. 421)
• 32 Schools since 1902 (p. 424)
• From elementary to primary schools (p. 424)
• Secondary schools and selection (p. 425)
• Standards and expectations (p. 430)
• 33 Higher Education (p. 433)
• The decline and revival of Oxford and Cambridge (p. 433)
• The Scottish universities in the age of the Enlightenment (p. 436)
• Alternative institutions (p. 438)
• Liberal, scientific or useful education? (p. 440)
• Higher education for women (p. 442)
• Higher education in the twentieth century (p. 445)
• 34 Education and Society (p. 450)
• Popular education and social change, 1750-1870 (p. 450)
• Education and the preservation of the elite (p. 453)
• Education and the decline of Britain (p. 456)
• Conclusion (p. 462)
• Notes (p. 465)
• Further Reading: A select bibliography (p. 479)
• Index (p. 523)