Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain

Religion, Politics and Society in Britain

Series Editor: Keith Robbins

Throughout the history of Britain religion has been a potent and influential force, permeating social and political life at many different levels. Yet it has often been written about in restricted institutional terms without accounting for the ways in which religious belief and practice have been bound up with wider social and political developments. Religion, Politics and Society in Britain shifts the focus on this complex and fluctuating relationship and investigates the changing role of religion in British life from 600 AD to the present.

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

 

During the twentieth century, Britain turned from a deeply religious culture into one of the most secularised nations. The change was sudden, triggered by the cultural revolutions of young people and women in the 1960s. But in the 1980s and 1990s, the peaceful mellowing of religion on the wane was joined by the appearance of religious militancy amongst the remaining faithful. From being a mostly harmless part of British culture, religion developed a new potential for outlandishness, extremism and even danger.

This book provides the first comprehensive account of religion in British society and culture between 1900 and 2000. With a focus on the themes of faith cultures, secularisation, religious militancy and the spiritual revolution of the New Age, Religion and Society in Britain uses people’s own experiences and the stories of the churches to display the diversity and richness of British religion. With examples from across the U.K. and across the religious traditions, this is the first coherent history of the religious experience of the British people during the last century.

 

Callum G. Brown is Professor of Religious and Cultural History at the University of Dundee. His previous books include The Death of Christian Britain (2001) and Postmodernism for Historians (Longman, 2004).

 

'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

This history of religion in British society in the 20th century tells of the collision between secularisation, religious militancy and the New Age.

·              Current world events have put religion back on the agenda

·              Lively and provocative, it is an easy to understand account of religion that doesn’t assume any prior knowledge

·              It will be bought by students studying modern British and religious history and will also be of interest to general readers

·              Illustrations bring the subject alive and annotations highlight interesting themes and views

·              One of the titles launching the new Longman Religion, Politics and Society in Britain series which examines religion in Britain from pre-Christian times to the end of the 20th century

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 the first 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. The 1960’s saw a sudden and dramatic change, triggered by the cultural revolutions of young people and women. This drift away from faith was followed by 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. With examples from across the U.K.and across the religious traditions, this is the first coherent history of the religious experience of the British people during the last century.   

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.

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