Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain / Edition 1

by Callum G. Brown

Overview

During the twentieth century, Britain turned from one of the most deeply religious nations of the world into one of the most secularised nations. This book provides a comprehensive account of religion in British society and culture between 1900 and 2000. It traces how Christian Puritanism and respectability framed the people amidst world wars, economic depressions, and social protest, and how until the 1950s religious revivals fostered mass enthusiasm. It then examines the sudden and dramatic changes seen in the 1960’s and the appearance of religious militancy in the 1980s and 1990s.

With a focus on the themes of faith cultures, secularisation, religious militancy and the spiritual revolution of the New Age, this book uses people’s own experiences and the stories of the churches to display the diversity and richness of British religion.

Suitable for undergraduate students studying modern British history, church history and sociology of religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780582472891
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/22/2006
Series:	Religion, Politics and Society in Britain
Edition description:	1ST
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Callum Brown is professor of religious and cultural history at the University of Dundee. In 2001, he wrote a controversial study called The Death of Christian Britain that argued that Britainhad secularised as a result of sexual liberation and feminism in the 1960s. That book is now studied by historians and theologians around Europe. In Religion and Society in Twentieth Century Britain, Brown provides a rounded study of the place of faith and religious adherence in the lives of the British people, giving the first complete account of religion’s place in the nation’s culture and society.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. The Faith Society 1900-1914 3. Trench Religion 1914-1919 4. Christian Culture in Confusion 1920-1945 5. Faith in Austerity 1945-1959 6. The Sixties’ Secular Revolution 1960-1973 7. The Shaping of Secular Society 1974-2000

Editorial Reviews

'In an age of war and depression, and then one of secular prosperity, Christianity long remained central to national life before fading into a pattern of cultural diversity. With verve and perception, Callum Brown has written the first attempt to encompass the whole religious experience of twentieth-century Britain.'

Professor David Bebbington, University of Stirling

'Prof. Brown writes with his usual clarity, originality and verve. Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain is an essential introduction to religion and religious change in modern Britain.'

Dr Michael Snape, University of Birmingham

Review of the first three books in the Religion, Politics and Society in Britain series:
''All three writers have made distinguished contributions to the specialist literature and, on the basis of these books, this will prove a most promising series intellectually, as well as one that offers much to students.''

Jeremy Black, Professor of History, Exeter University

From the Publisher