The Silent Revolution and the Making of Victorian England by Herbert Schlossberg


The Silent Revolution and the Making of Victorian England
Title : The Silent Revolution and the Making of Victorian England
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0814250467
ISBN-10 : 9780814250464
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 384
Publication : First published March 1, 2000

Herbert Schlossberg argues that by the time Victoria became queen in 1837, Victorian culture was already essentially in place. Focusing on the period between the 1790s and the 1840s, Schlossberg shows how the religious revival that took hold of England's culture in the early years of the nineteenth century constituted a "silent revolution" -- as opposed to the violent political revolutions taking place in France and other European countries -- that formed the basis of Victorian culture. Among other effects, this revolution effectively addressed the dislocation brought about by rapid economic change and population growth, which were producing strains in the already shaky moral and religious foundation of the English nation.After an opening discussion of the spiritual condition of England in the eighteenth century, Schlossberg describes the various manifestations of the religious revival, focusing on the main renewal movements in the Church of England and the spread of evangelicalism to dissenting religious groups. He looks next at the relationship between the religious revival and aspects of society not often linked to religion, ranging from the roles played by intellectuals (Coleridge, Carlyle), to the place of religious activity during periods of social and economic change, to the struggle between evangelicalism and utilitarianism for intellectual domination. The final section looks at changes in the ways people thought and felt, changes in moral sensibility and practice, and the remaking of English restitutions.

The Silent Revolution and the Making of Victorian England Reviews

  • Roger Burk

    This is a detailed, scholarly book meant for an academic audience. The reader is expected to know who Witherspoon was, and what Arminianism is. The writer is eager to cover everything and cite everyone. He loses the thread of the main argument in all the words. It's as dreary as a dissertation.

    The story is about how dissolute and freethinking 18th century England evolved into the moralistic and pious Victorian England. (Don't blame the new queen--the transformation was well underway when she came to the throne.) The writer traces the origin of the change in the slow growth of Methodism and Evangelicalism starting in the mid-18th century. The course of the change is laid out in exhausting detail. However, the cause of the change is just as obscure to me as it was when I picked up the book.

  • Jake

    As Enlightenment thinking produced a bloody revolution and a fanatical dictator in France, England instead grew its own revolution through bloodless means which improved all aspects of life for all classes. Schlossberg argues the basis of this revolution was a Christianity undergoing its own revolutions and changes which in turn permeated the culture and set the stage for the reign of Queen Victoria. The book begins by investigating the various religious movements, providing a succinct history of the Church of England in the period, various diversions from the Established church, and the societal changes that the church brought about. Schlossberg does not limit the beneficial changes in the society to the work of the church, but does demonstrate the Christian roots of the secularists contributing to the revolution.