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Nineteenth-century Britain, a very short introduction, Christopher Harvie and H.C.G. Matthew

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-152) and index

illustrationsportraitsmaps

index present

non fiction

Nineteenth-century Britain

bibliography

70114200

Christopher Harvie and H.C.G. Matthew

Very short introductions, 23

a very short introduction

The nineteenth century was a time of massive growth for Britain. In 1800 it was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost half-Celtic. A century later it was largely urban and English. The effects of the industrial Revolution caused cities to swell enormously. London, for example, grew from about 1 million people to over 6 million. Abroad, the British Empire was reaching its apex, while at home the world came to marvel at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with its crowning achievement--the Crystal Palace. Historians Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew present a guide to the social, economic, and political events that marked the era on which many believed the sun would never set

Reflections on the revolutions -- Industrial development -- Reform and religion -- The wars abroad -- Roads to freedom -- Coping with reform -- 'Unless the Lord build the city ... ' -- 'The ringing grooves of change' -- Politics and diplomacy : Palmerston's years -- Incorporation -- Free trade : an industrial economy rampant -- A shifting population : town and country -- The masses and the classes : the urban worker -- Clerks and commerce : the lower middle class -- The propertied classes -- Pomp and circumstance -- 'A great change in manners' -- 'Villa Tories' : the Conservative resurgence -- Ireland, Scotland, Wales : Home Rule frustrated -- Reluctant Imperialists? -- The fin-de-siécle reaction : new views of the State -- Old Liberalism, New Liberalism, Labourism, and tariff reform -- Edwardian years : a crisis of the State contained -- 'Your English summers done'