Volume 5: Religion and Government

The fifth and final volume of Nineteenth Century British Society has now been published on Amazon.

This volume looks at the effects that economic changes had on people’s attitude to religion and how the character of government underwent a revolution in organisation and ideology. It explores the pressures experienced by Anglicanism, Nonconformity and Roman Catholicism in the decades leading up to the Religious Census of 1851 and particularly the state of working-class religious attitudes. It then examines the extent to which religion was in decline after 1851 and asks whether there was a ‘crisis of faith’. Finally, the nature of government and especially how and why it responded to pressures for a national approach to the development of social reform with the shift from a laissez faire approach to one in which there was a more collectivist response.

The book is divided into three chapters:

• 1. Churches under pressure

  2. Religion in Decline?

  3. Government

Further Reading identifies the most valuable books on these subjects while the detailed notes provide a guide for further research