This book deals with reactions to geological discoveries in early nineteenth-century England. How did theologians cope with new scientific evidence of the antiquity of the world which was contrary to accepted biblical chronology? And what repercussions did this picture have on philosophers, poets and novelists? The first part of the book concentrates on Charles Lyell's religious and scientific views. This is followed by a study of William Buckland, Adam Segdwick and William Whewell, three clergymen who were also geologists. The last section explores the literary reception of the revolutionary discoveries of Lyell and his contemporaries.

First published in 1977, this book studies three important nineteenth-century novelists: Mrs Gaskell, William Hale White and Thomas Hardy. They are all provincial novelists who wrote about social change and the attendant problems and pressures this brought with it. Unlike previous critics, who have tended to concentrate on her ‘social-problem’ novels, here the author treats Gaskell’s Sylvia’s Lovers and Cousin Phillis as central texts. However a chapter also examines Gaskell and Engels perception of social change in Manchester. This book also seeks to correct Hale White’s neglect, anointing Revolution in Tanner’s Lane and Clara Hopgood major works. The survey of women in Hardy’s novels represents an illuminating new angle and leads on to a discussion of love and marriage in later Victorian fiction.

"Papers delivered at the fourth triennial conference of the International John Bunyan Society held at Bedford, 1-5 September 2004"--Acknowledgements.