First published in 1979, The Second Coming is an experiment in the writing of popular history - a contribution to the history of the people who have no history and an exploration of some of the ideas, beliefs and ways of thinking of ordinary men and women in the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Millenarianism is a conceptual tool with which to explore some aspects of popular thought and culture. It is also seen as an ideology of social change and as a continuing tradition, traced from the end of the seventeenth century to the 1790s, and is shown to be embedded in folk culture. Abundant in rich and lively descriptions of such colourful characters as Richard Brothers, Joanna Southcott, John Wroe, Zion Ward and Sir William Courtenay, as well as studies of the Shakers, early Mormons and Millerites, the result is a window into the world of ordinary people in the Age of Romanticism.

Originally published in 1954, this is the first full-length account of the history of the Working Men's College in St. Pancras, London. One hundred and fifty years on from its foundation in 1854, it is the oldest adult educational institute in the country. Self-governing and self-financing, it is a rich part of London's social history. The college stands out as a distinctive monument of the voluntary social service founded by the Victorians, unchanged in all its essentials yet adapting itself to the demands of each generation of students and finding voluntary and unpaid teachers to continue its tradition.

Originally published in 1961, the book charts the dynamics of successive phases of the adult education movement and shows the social origin and development of the ideas and attitudes of those involved with it.

Originally published in 1954, this is the first full-length account of the history of the Working Men s College in St.Pancras, London. One hundred and fifty years on from its foundation in 1854, it is the oldest adult educational institute in the country. Self-governing and self-financing, it is a rich part of London s social history. The college stands out as a distinctive monument of the voluntary social service founded by the Victorians, unchanged in all its essentials yet adapting itself to the demands of each generation of students and finding voluntary and unpaid teachers to continue its tradition.

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Drawing heavily on the recollections and literature of the people themselves, Harrison places late Victorian Britain firmly in its social and political context.

First published in 1979, The Second Coming is an experiment in the writing of popular history - a contribution to the history of the people who have no history and an exploration of some of the ideas, beliefs and ways of thinking of ordinary men and women in the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. Millenarianism is a conceptual tool with which to explore some aspects of popular thought and culture. It is also seen as an ideology of social change and as a continuing tradition, traced from the end of the seventeenth century to the 1790s, and is shown to be embedded in folk culture. Abundant in rich and lively descriptions of such colourful characters as Richard Brothers, Joanna Southcott, John Wroe, Zion Ward and Sir William Courtenay, as well as studies of the Shakers, early Mormons and Millerites, the result is a window into the world of ordinary people in the Age of Romanticism.

Originally published in 1961, the book charts the dynamics of successive phases of the adult education movement and shows the social origin and development of the ideas and attitudes of those involved with it.

In this fascinating and well researched work of the history of the heyday of Victorian British society, Harrison seamlessly weaves together the overlapping developments in politics, economy, social and culture. In this fascinating and well researched work of the history of the heyday of Victorian British society, Harrison seamlessly weaves together the overlapping developments in politics, economy, social and culture. It was a period that saw Britain become a predominantly urban society, continuing industrialization, the growth of new and distinct social classes, as well as social conflict over the New Poor Law and the emergence of Chartism.

In the first quarter of the 19th century the British people began to examine the previously unquestioned links between progress and prosperity, having discovered that economic growth was not automatically benign. Orthodoxies were challenged and doubts raised - many believed they were living in an era of great flux. Their responses were to prompt manifold change. This study traces the relative features of the aristocracy, the middle class and the labouring classes during this formative period. The author identifies the moral and religious beliefs which motivated late Victorians, examines their concerns about health education and the condition of the poor, and shows how, by the end of the period, more Britons were politically active - amongst them suffragettes, unionists and socialists - than ever before. He draws heavily on the recollections and literature of the people themselves to place late Victorian Britain firmly in its social and political context.