In the 1930s and 1940s - amid the crises of totalitarianism, war and a perceived cultural collapse in the democratic West - a high-profile group of mostly Christian intellectuals met to map out 'middle ways' through the 'age of extremes'. Led by the missionary and ecumenist Joseph H. Oldham, the group included prominent writers, thinkers and activists such as T. S. Eliot, John Middleton Murry, Karl Mannheim, John Baillie, Alec Vidler, H. A. Hodges, Christopher Dawson, Kathleen Bliss and Michael Polanyi. The 'Oldham group' saw faith as a uniquely powerful resource for social and cultural renewal, and it represents a fascinating case study of efforts to renew freedom in a dramatic confrontation with totalitarianism. The group's story will appeal to those interested in the cultural history of the Second World War and the issue of applying faith to the 'modern' social order. -- .

The dramatic social, cultural, and political changes in the twentieth century posed challenges and opportunities to Christian believers in Britain and Ireland: many, whether in the churches or among the laity, sought to adapt their faith to what was seen as a new, "modern" world fundamentally different than the one in which Christianity had risen to a position of institutional and cultural dominance. Alongside the more long-term processes of industrialisation, urbanisation, and democratisation, the formative experiences of war and post-war reconstruction, confrontations with totalitarianism, changing relations between the sexes, and engagements with an increasingly assertive "secular" culture inspired many Christians not only to reconsider their faith but also to try to influence the emerging modernity. The chapters in this volume address various specific topics - from mass politics to sexuality - but are linked by a stress on how Christians played active roles in building "modern" life in twentieth-century Britain and Ireland. Tensions and ambiguities between "religious" and "secular" and between "modern" and "traditional" make understanding Christian encounters with modernity a valuable topic in the exploration of the complexities of twentieth-century cultural and intellectual history. This book will be of great value to students and scholars in the fields of history including modern British history, religion, and the intersectionality of gender and religion. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Contemporary British History.

In the 1930s and 1940s - amid the crises of totalitarianism, war and a perceived cultural collapse in the democratic West - a high-profile group of mostly Christian intellectuals met to map out 'middle ways' through the 'age of extremes'. Led by the missionary and ecumenist Joseph H. Oldham, the group included prominent writers, thinkers and activists such as T. S. Eliot, John Middleton Murry, Karl Mannheim, John Baillie, Alec Vidler, H. A. Hodges, Christopher Dawson, Kathleen Bliss and Michael Polanyi. The 'Oldham group' saw faith as a uniquely powerful resource for social and cultural renewal, and it represents a fascinating case study of efforts to renew freedom in a dramatic confrontation with totalitarianism. The group's story will appeal to those interested in the cultural history of the Second World War and the issue of applying faith to the 'modern' social order. -- .

This book offers the first in-depth study of one of the most gripping trials of inter-war Britain, that of farmer's wife Beatrice Pace for the arsenic murder of her husband. A riveting tale from the golden age of press sensationalism, the book offers insights into the era's justice system, gender debates and celebrity culture. Based on extensive research, it locates the Pace saga in the vibrant world of 1920s press reporting and illuminates a forgotten chapter in the history of civil liberties by considering the debates the case raised about police powers and the legal system.Spanning settings from the Pace's lonely cottage in the Forest of Dean to the House of Commons and using sources ranging from meticulous detective reports to heartfelt admirers' letters, The Most Remarkable Woman in England combines serious scholarship with vivid storytelling to bring to life the extraordinary lives of ordinary people between the wars.