The Edwardian Temperament, 1895–1919

by Jonathan Rose

Book by Rose, Jonathan

Genres: History

275 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Jonathan Rose is the William R. Kenan Professor of History at Drew University. His fields of study are British history, intellectual history and the history of the book. He served as the founding president of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing, and as the president of the Northeast Victorian Studies Association. His The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, won the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History, the Longman-History Today Historical Book of the Year Prize and the British Council Prize. He is co-editor of Book History, which won the Council of Editors of Learned Journals award for the Best New Journal of 1999. He held visiting appointments at the University of Cambridge and Princeton University and he reviews books for the The Times Literary Supplement and the Daily Telegraph.

Reviews

[C. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Rose’s first book and is based on his PhD thesis. It’s an impressive synthesis of British intellectual currents in the period 1895–1919, focused especially on a tendency Rose sees as particularly Edwardian: the desire for unity, ‘the reconciliation of the sacred and the secular, the rich and the poor, sexuality and spirituality, the child and the adult’ (p. 200). A thought-provoking and useful book.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the big thinkers, what they thought, and where they succeeded and fell flat.