Religion and the Working Class in Nineteenth-Century Britain

by Hugh McLeod

"It might have been little more than an annotated bibliography. It is in fact an important independent study in its own right." The Expository Times

Genres: History

76 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 1984

About the author

Professor Hugh McLeod teaches in the School of Historical Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Reviews

[Mir]

The religiosity and practice of the working class is a subject about which their is much disagreement among historians. The sources, even recorded oral testimony, are difficult to interpret, and probably fail to show the degree and variety of religious life.

Some historians held that the working class was less religious because it was alienated by and resentful of class distinctions within the Church. McLeod states that this is a biased position that accepts middle class definitions of religion and evaluations of other classes religiosity. Church attendance, he argues does not equate to piety; nor does behavior, for that matter.

[Leonellus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction