The Salvation Army and the Public

by R.G. Moyles

The Salvation Army, one of the world's leading Christian/social-work organizations, has, throughout its history, been the object of public scrutiny for several because its early religious practices were so startling and sometimes so repugnant to Victorian Society, because it became so actively involved in such historically significant events as "The Maiden Tribute Affair" and both world wars, and because it instituted such innovative social-outreach programs as "The Darkest England Scheme" which resulted in hostels, 'rescue' homes, and a host of other now well known social-reclamation efforts. In this book, social historian R.G. Moyles vividly recounts the Army's early subjection to public ridicule which later, for various reasons described, changed to public adulation. In ten historical essays, the history of the Army's public reception - its fight for the right to march in the streets, its battle with T.h. Huxley, its near disastrous 'schisms' in the United States and Canada, its rise to popularity at the hands of such literary greats as George Bernard Shaw, and many other public encounters - is depicted in intimate detail by reference to and quotations from the many public commentaries on the Salvation Army from its inception in 1865 up to the 'Bramwell Booth Affair' of 1929. (from back cover)

215 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2000