THE AGE OF URBAN DEMOCRACY
The Age of Urban Democracy: England 1868-1914 is published as part of Longman's A HISTORY OF ENGLAND series under the General Editorship of the late W. N. Medlicott. The other series titles currently available are:
The Anglo-Saxon Age c.400-1042 D. J. V. Fisher
The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216 (Fourth Edition) Frank Barlow
The Later Middle Ages in England 1216-1485 B. Wilkinson
The Tudor Age 1485-1603 James A. Williamson
The Stuart Age: England 1603-1714 (Second Edition) Barry Coward
Eighteenth Century England 1714-1784 (Second Edition) Dorothy Marshall
The Age of Improvement 1783-1867 Asa Briggs
The Age of Urban Democracy
England 1868-1914
Revised edition
Donald Read
First published 1979
by LONGMAN GROUP UK LIMITED
Published in the United States of America by Longman Publishing
Published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
ISBN: 978-1-315-84478-7 (eISBN)
Donald Read 1979, 1994
All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the Publishers or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd., 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE
Fifth impression 1990
Revised edition 1994
ISBN 978-0-582-08921-1 PPR
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Read, Donald.
England, 1868-1914: the age of urban democracy / Donald Read.
Rev. ed.
p. cm. (A history of England)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-582-08921-2
1. Great BritainHistoryVictoria, 1837-1901. 2. Great Britain
HistoryEdward VII, 1901-1910. 3. EnglandCivilization19th
century. 4. EnglandCivilization20th century. I. Title.
II. Series: History of England (Longman)
DA560.R43 1993
941.08dc20 93-20486
CIP
Contents
One of the effects of two world wars and of fifty years of ever-accelerating industrial and social revolution has been the growing interest of the citizen in the story of his land. From this story he seeks to learn the secret of his country's greatness and a way to better living in the future.
There seems, therefore, to be room for a rewriting of the history of England which will hold the interest of the general reader while it appeals at the same time to the student. This new presentation takes account of the recent discoveries of the archaeologist and the historian, without losing sight of the claims of history to take its place among the mental recreations of intelligent people for whom it has no professional concern.
The volumes of this history are of medium length, and are intended to provide a readable narrative of the whole course of the history of England and give proper weight to the different strands which form the pattern of the story. No attempt has been made to secure general uniformity of style or treatment. Each period has its special problems, each author his individual technique and mental approach; each volume is meant to stand by itself not only as an expression of the author's methods, tastes, and experience, but as a coherent picture of a phase in the history of the country.
There is, nevertheless, a unity of purpose in the series; the authors have been asked, while avoiding excessive detail, to give particular attention to the interaction of the various aspects of national life and achievement, so that each volume may present a convincing integration of those developments - political, constitutional, economic, social, religious, military, foreign, or cultural - which happen to be dominant at each period. Although considerations of space prevent minute investigation it should still be possible in a series of this length to deal fully with the essential themes.
A short bibliographical note is attached to each volume. This is not intended to supersede existing lists, but rather to call attention to recent works and to the standard bibliographies.
W. N. Medlicott
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce a photograph: The Three Magnets: Syndics of Cambridge University Library.
We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:
George Allen and Unwin Ltd, for a table from The Treasury by H. Roseveare; Allied Services Ltd., and the author, Professor Peter Mathias, for a table from Retailing Revolution by Professor Mathias, published by Longman Group Ltd.; the author's agent, for a table from Sociology History and Education by D. W. Musgrave, reprinted by permission of the Peters Fraser & Dunlop Group Ltd.; Cambridge University Press, for a table from The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill by Robert Blake, published by Eyre and Spottiswoode; the authors, Professor T. C. Barker and R. M. Robbins, and London Transport for a map from History of London Transport Vol II; The Bodley Head for 2 tables from National Income and Expenditure of the United Kingdom by J. B. Jeffreys and Dorothy Walters from Income and Wealth, published by Bowes and Bowes; Cambridge University Press for 3 tables from Wages and Incomes Since 1860 by A. L. Bowley; 3 tables from Industrial Growth and World Trade by A. Maizels; material from ll tables from British Economic Growth 1688-1959 by P. Deane and W. A. Cole; material from 1 table from Occupation and Pay in Great Britain 1906-1960 by G. Routh; a map from A New Historical Geography of England edited by H. C. Darby; material from 5 tables from Migration and Economic Growth by B. Thomas and material from one table from Abstract of the British Historical Statistics by B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane; The Harvester Press Ltd., and Augustus M. Kelley for a table from Home and Foreign Investment 1870-1913 by A. K. Cairncross; Her Majesty's Stationery Office for the Board of Trade Wholesale Price Indices for 1871-1895; Institute of Economic Affairs for 2 tables from The Long Debate on Poverty by R. M. Hartwell; the author's agent for 3 lines from The Lesson by Rudyard Kipling, 6 lines from Recessional by Rudyard Kipling and 4 lines from The White Man's Burden by Rudyard Kipling, by permission of the National Trust and the Macmillan Co. of London and Basingstoke; MacGibbon & Kee/Granada Publishing Ltd., for 2 tables from The British Political Elite by W. Guttsman; Macmillan, London and Basingstoke for a table from The Myth of the Great Depression by S. B. Saul (1969); a table from English Rural Communities by Dr Mills; 2 tables from The Relief of Poverty by M. E. Rose; and a table from Trends in British Society Since 1900 by A. L. Halsey ; the author's agent for 7 tables from The First Industrial Nation by Peter Mathias, reprinted by permission of the Peters Fraser & Dunlop Group Ltd.; Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd., for a table from The Rise of the Public Schools by T. W. Bamford; Oxford University Press for 2 tables from The Struggle for Mastery in Europe by A. J. P, Taylor; a table from Regional Wage Variations in Britain 1850-1914 by E. H. Hunt; Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., for a table from The Changing Social Structure of England and Wales 1871-1961 by D. C. Marsh; Weidenfeld and Nicolson for a table from Industrial Retardation in Britain 1880-1914 bv A. L. Levine.
