"In a superb overview of British life at the turn of the century, Harris expertly discusses the complexities and contradictions of contemporary society, but she still manages to retain a compelling focus on the way in which people then combined public spiritedness with a belief in private and voluntary action. Her book shows how many of the dramatic changes of the early twentieth century had origins in the 1880s and 1890s."

Recommended by Mark Bevir, Professor of Political Science and author of The Making of British Socialism.