Drawing upon a wide array of sources, Martin Wiener explores the English ambivalence to modern industrial society.

Capitalism, Culture and Decline in Britainis an original and controversial analysis of the thesis, made familiar in recent years by Martin J. Wiener, Anthony Sampson, Correlli Barnett, and others, which states that Britain's alleged economic decline since 1870 was the result of deep-seated anti-industrial factors in Britain's culture. Rubinstein argues, from a novel perspective, that Britain was never an industrial, but always a commercial/financial economy whose comparative advantage lay within that area. Rubinstein illustrates that the much-criticized features of Britain's class system, such as the public schools, were actually efficient instruments to enhance this competitive advantage. He closely examines Britain's cultural values and elite structures to demonstrate that these were both rational and modern, arguing that Britain's standard of living has been virtually identical to all countries whose economies have been considered more "successful." Emphasizing the centralimportance of London-based finance and addressing socialism, Keynesianism, and Thatcherism,Capitalism, Culture, and Decline inBritainpresents an original and challenging contribution to this debate.

This book sets out the present state of the discussion of the decline in British industry and introduces new directions in which the debate is now proceeding.

Aus dem Inhalt: Addresses Given at the Opening/Closing Ceremonies of the XVIIIth International Congress of History of Science: Christoph J. Scriba: The Beginnings of the International Congresses of the History of Science � Fritz Krafft: Science and Political Order / Wissenschaft und Staat � Klaus Pinkau: Science and Politics � Wolfgang Wild: The Role of the Government in the Field of Education and Society Plenary Lectures with Special Reference to the General Theme of the XVIIIth International Congresses of the History of Science �Science and Political Order / Wissenschaft und Staat�: Lewis Pyenson: Why Science May Serve Political Ends: Cultural Imperialism and the Mission to Civilize � Gerald Schr�der: Science Policy and Pharmacy in the NS Period � Caroll Pursell: Technology and Political Order in the 20th Century � Armin Hermann: Science under Foreign Rule. Policy of the Allies in Germany 1945-49 Symposia: Reports of their Organizers: Introductory Remarks by the Chairman of the Program Committee (Fritz Krafft) � Publications and Reports � A Survey of the Congress Budget (Christoph J. Scriba) Scientific Program: Final Status.

It is a story that is strong in notable events -slave emancipation, the arrival of the 1820 British settlers, a series of frontier wars, the Great Trek of Boer emigrants - as well as in striking personalities, among them Dr John Philip, Andries Stockenstrom, John Fairbairn, Moshoeshoe and Sir Harry Smith. In Keegan's pages these familiar historical landmarks and characters emerge in entirely novel ways, the subject of fresh interpretations and original insights.

This book re-evaluates the rural English novel in the twentieth century in relation to the recognised artistic responses to modernity. It argues that the most important writers in this tradition have had a very significant bearing on the trajectory of English cultural life through the modernist period and beyond.

In this pioneering work about the precursor to the comic book, Kelly Boyd traces the evolution of the boys' story paper and its impact on the imaginative world of working-class readers. From the penny dreadful and the Boy's Own Paper to the tales of Billy Bunter and Sexton Blake, this cultural form shaped ideas about gender, race, class and empire in response to social change. This study is an important analysis of a neglected part of popular culture.

This is an introduction to the Industrial Revolution which offers an integrated account of the economic and social aspects of change during the period. Recent revisionist thinking has implied that fundamental change in economic, social and political life at the time of the Industrial Revolution was minimal or non-existent. The author challenges this interpretation, arguing that the process of revision has gone too far; emphasizing continuity at the expense of change and neglecting many historically unique features of the economy and society. Elements given short shrift in many current interpretations are reassigned their central roles.

This, the third volume to appear in the New Oxford History of England, covers the period from the repeal of the Corn Laws to the dramatic failure of Gladstone's first Home Rule Bill. In his magisterial study of the mid-Victorian generation, Theodore Hoppen identifies three defining themes. The first he calls `established industrialism' - the growing acceptance that factory life and manufacturing had come to stay. It was during these four decades that the balance of employment shifted irrevocably. For the first time in history, more people were employed in industry than worked on the land. The second concerns the `multiple national identities' of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Dr Hoppen's study of the histories of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Empire reveals the existence of a variety of particular and overlapping national traditions flourishing alongside the increasingly influential structure of the unitary state. The third defining theme is that of `interlocking spheres' which the author uses to illuminate the formation of public culture in the period. This, he argues, was generated not by a series of influences operating independently from each other, but by a variety of intermeshed political, economic, scientific, literary and artistic developments. This original and authoritative book will define these pivotal forty years in British history for the next generation.

Martin Daunton provides a clear and balanced view of the continuities and changes that occurred in the economic history of Britain from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Festival of Britain in 1951. In 1851, Britain was the dominant economic power in an increasingly global economy. The First World War marked a turning point, as globalisation went into reverse and Britain shifted to 'insular capitalism'. Rather than emphasizing the decline of the British economy, this book stresses modernity and the growth of new patterns of consumption in areas such as the service sector and the leisure industry.