The Strange Death of Liberal England

Rating:
Summary: When England Fell Apart
Review: A broad middle-class consensus-based on free trade, free markets and personal liberty-ruled late Victorian England. The consensus collapsed in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. The House of Lords, with far greater powers than it has today, was reactionary and obstructionist. The Irish, the feminists and the labor unions demanded redress for grievances long neglected. The ruling Liberal Party was never able to broker meaningful compromises and the extremists on the left and the right grew more and more powerful. Faced with arson campaigns and general strikes at home and civil war in Ireland, the government seemed about to fall apart when World War I broke out. The Nineteenth Century was gone for good.

It's a complicated history but Dangerfield tells it well. His writing is clear and often humorous, and he has a good sense of story. He never weighs you down with detail, but you never feel you've missed anything important. Some 65 years after it was written, this is as readable as ever. If you have any interest in modern English history, you must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A very excellent book
Review: I finished reading this book on Dec. 25, 1977, and my post reading note said: "The book, in inimitable Dangerfield style covers the period from 1800 to 1906 sketchily and the period from 1906 to December 1921 carefully. Dec. 6, 1921, is the date the Irish delegates signed the Treaty--the Irish Civil War came in July 1922 and is beyond the scope of this book. This was an excellent treatment, very fair to the Irish and all in all just an excellent treatment: really the best I've read."

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating andd captivating
Review: If you are interested in the Women's Movement in pre-WWI England, Dangerfield's book is a great place to begin. Part of our reading list in a university history course I took in the late 1960's, The Stange Death of Liberal England opened my eyes to the women who fought for equal rights long before the current Women's Movement. A real eye opener.

Rating:
Summary: Classic but Slanted Account
Review: This book is the classic account of Edwardian Britain and is on the suggested reading list of the Institute for Edwardian Studies...It was written by a contemporary journalist and is a great read. However, it focuses a great deal on the political side and lacks objectivity. An excellent counter-weight to Dangerfield is David Powell, The Edwardian Crisis. This is a first-rate academic revision to what Dangerfield and past scholars have written about the Edwardian period, but it is not really for those new to the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Classic but Slanted Account
Review: This book is the classic account of Edwardian Britain and is on the suggested reading list of the Institute for Edwardian Studies...It was written by a contemporary journalist and is a great read. However, it focuses a great deal on the political side and lacks objectivity. An excellent counter-weight to Dangerfield is David Powell, The Edwardian Crisis. This is a first-rate academic revision to what Dangerfield and past scholars have written about the Edwardian period, but it is not really for those new to the subject.

Rating:
Summary: Mysogyny = History?
Review: While the book makes highly entertaining reading, it is dangerous in its glibness. Dangerfield's account is often referred to as a fundamental source for the women's suffrage movement in Britain, but his manipulation and outright suppression of facts willfully twists the contributions of the Pankhursts, radical feminists whose thinking was far in advance of its time. One often has difficulty identifying which he hated most: the incompetence of the Liberal Party or the women fighting for political recognition.

Rating:
Summary: Mysogyny = History?
Review: Whoever you are and whatever you do you can find soemthing to take away from this book. Essential for an understanding of politics in a democracy, and better because it gives readers an example to learn from, rather than just theory. Also a great study in human relationships and the tragi-comedic nature of life. Probably one of the best and wittiest books on history/politics ever written.

Rating:
Summary: Essential Book on Democratic Politics
Review: Whoever you are and whatever you do you can find soemthing to take away from this book. Essential for an understanding of politics in a democracy, and better because it gives readers an example to learn from, rather than just theory. Also a great study in human relationships and the tragi-comedic nature of life. Probably one of the best and wittiest books on history/politics ever written.