‘Skilful and Industrious’: Women and Congregationalism in Edwardian Hampshire 1901–1914

The Edwardian era is generally regarded as witnessing the culmination of what has come to be known as ‘the first wave of feminism’. This presented challenges for those Christian denominations, such as Congregationalism, which sought to project a ‘progressive’ image. To prosper, Congregational churches in Hampshire depended upon skilful and industrious women, who often constituted two thirds of the membership. Yet despite the acknowledged contributions of women to church life, including Sunday school teaching, fund raising, pastoral care and social work, as well as moves within society towards enhancing their status, in the main they were excluded from positions of leadership.     

“The Faith Society”? Quantifying Religious Belonging in Edwardian Britain, 1901–1914

Historians disagree about how the Edwardian era fits into the jigsaw of secularisation in Britain. Was it a time of religious crisis (Keith Robbins, Hugh McLeod) or a faith society (Callum Brown)? This article subjects the debate to quantitative scrutiny by examining the available statistics of church attendance and church membership/affiliation for 1901–1914. A mixed picture is reported, with elements of sacralisation and secularisation co‐existing. Although churchgoing was already in relative and absolute decline, one‐quarter of adults (disproportionately women) still worshipped on any given Sunday and two‐fifths at least monthly. Moreover, hardly anybody failed to be reached by a rite of passage conducted on religious premises. Only 1 per cent professed no faith and just over one‐half had some reasonably regular and meaningful relationship with organised religion in terms of church membership or adherence. For children, perhaps nine‐tenths attended Sunday school, however briefly.     

The Vertigo Years: Europe, 1900–1914

J. N. LOCKMAN. Scattered Tracks on the Lawrence Trail: Twelve Essays on T. E. Lawrence. Whitmore Lake, Mich.: Falcon Books, 1996. Pp. xxii, 208. $24.00 (us); ANITA ENGLE. The Nili Spies. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. x, 244. $36.00 (us); YOAV GELBER. Jewish-Transjordanian Relations, 1921-48. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Pordand, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. 320. $37.50 (us); MICHAEL J. COHEN. Fighting World War Three from the Middle East: Allied Contingency Plans, 1945-1954. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. xv, 349. $24.00 (us), paper; P. J. VATIKIOTIS. The Middle East: From the End of Empire to the End of the Cold War. London and New York: Routledge, 1997. Pp. xi, 284. $65.00 (us); YEZID SXYIGK. Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Pp. xliv, 953. £70.00; HAROLD M. CUBERT. ThePFLP's Changing Role in the Middle East. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Pordand, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. xiii, 235. $47.50 (us); MAJID KHADDURI and EDMUND GHAREEB. War in the Gulf, 1990-91: The Iraq-Kuwait Conflict and Its Implications. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Pp. x, 299. $39-95 (CDN); KEMAL KIRISCI and GARETH M. WINROW. The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-state Ethnic Conflict. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. xvi, 237. $45.00 (us); ZEEV MAOZ, ed. Regional Security in the Middle East: Past, Present, and Future. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. 208. $42.50 (us); EFRAIM KARSH, ed. Between War and Peace: Dilemmas of Israeli Security. London: Frank Cass, 1996; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. 298. $37.50 (us); AHARON LEVRAN. Israeli Strategy after Desert Storm: Lessons of the Second Gulf War. London: Frank Cass, 1997; dist. Portland, Oreg.: ISBS. Pp. ix, 169. $47.50 (us).     

Redrawing the Boundary between India and Britain: The Succession Crisis at Zanzibar, 1870–1873

Abstract

WIDE-RANGING, STIMULATING, AND debatable interpretations of the enforced black diaspora from Africa to the New World are the hallmarks of all of these books, even though they differ in focus and are written by historians at various stages of their careers. Two books contain reflections on slavery and abolitionism by renowned historians of slavery, Gary B. Nash and David Brion Davis. Nash, in an elegant, slim volume (originally the Nathan I. Huggins lectures at Harvard University in 2oo4), returns to a theme he has addressed before, namely the reasons why the founding fathers did not eradicate the blot of slavery from the United States. He argues that action could, and should, have been taken. Davis offers a set of essays - some previously published, some appearing for the first time - that examine the inhumanity of slavery in North America, primarily in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but with a broader contextual and chronological canvas. Tlle three other books are revisions of doctoral dissertations. Eric Robert Taylor and Stephanie E. Smallwood are both concerned primarily with the Middle Passage as a crucial phase of the Adantic slave trade. In Taylor's case, the emphasis falls upon shipboard revolts by slaves during the crossing from Africa to America. Smallwood focuses on the process by which people from the Gold Coast were captured, transported, and fashioned into slaves in the English slave trade of the late seventeenth century. Robert Pierce Forbes's book brings the focus back to the United States and the significance of the Missouri Compromise (a set of congressional acts passed in 182o and 1821) for the political history of American slavery.     

The future of Poland, 1914–1917: France and Great Britain in the Triple Entente

Abstract

THE POLISH QUESTION — whether, and if so how and in what form, to recreate an independent Polish state — was one of the most vexing problems that faced European diplomats during the First World War. Believing that aroused Polish patriotism could be a powerful weapon against the Central Powers, yet fearing that support for Polish national aspirations would alienate their Russian ally and fracture the Triple Entente, British and French statesmen had to decide whether they could include the recreation of Poland among their war aims without jeopardizing the Entente, and hence the chances of victory. Given their different strategic priorities, the French and the British gave different answers.