Name: The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914
SKU: 9780099592242
Price: 14.99 GBP
Availability: InStock

The Age of Decadence: Britain 1880 to 1914

£14.99

HEFFER, SIMON

Product Details

ISBN: 9780099592242

Author: HEFFER, SIMON

‘A riveting account of the pre-First World War years . . . The Age of Decadence is an enormously impressive and enjoyable read.’
— Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

‘A magnificent account of a less than magnificent epoch.’
— Jonathan Meades, Literary Review

The folk memory of Britain in the years before the Great War is of a powerful, contented, orderly, and thriving country:

She commanded a vast empire.
She bestrode international commerce.
Her citizens were living longer, profiting from civil liberties their grandparents only dreamt of, and enjoying an expanding range of comforts and pastimes.

The mood of pride and self-confidence is familiar from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance marches, newsreels of George V’s coronation, and London’s great Edwardian palaces.

Beneath the Surface: Contradictions and Challenges

In The Age of Decadence, Simon Heffer exposes the contradictions of late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain, revealing a nation grappling with profound challenges:

Imperial doubts: Despite Britain’s massive power, the mismanaged Boer War in South Africa created deep uncertainties about her imperial destiny.
Constitutional crisis and industrial unrest: Attempts to secure vital social reforms led to the twentieth century’s gravest constitutional crisis and coincided with the worst industrial unrest in British history.
Gender inequality: While millions more men were granted the vote, women were so utterly disregarded that suffragists’ public protests bordered on terrorism.
Degeneracy and scandal: The ruling class fell prey to degeneracy and scandal, undermining their authority.

A National Psyche in Transition

Heffer also delves into the complex psyche of the era, highlighting:

The embrace of modernity, such as the motor-car, the sensationalist press, and the science fiction of H.G. Wells.
A simultaneous longing for tradition, seen in the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris and the nostalgia of A.E. Housman.
The looming crisis of 1914: a potential civil war in Ireland that threatened the very existence of the United Kingdom.

Vivid Pen-Portraits of an Era

Through vivid pen-portraits of the great figures of the time, Heffer brings the era to life. Key personalities include:

Political giants like Gladstone, Parnell, Asquith, and Churchill.
Social reformers and cultural icons such as Mrs. Pankhurst, Beatrice Webb, Baden-Powell, Wilde, and Shaw.

Together, they form a richly detailed panorama of a great power forced to confront potentially fatal challenges through both accident and arrogance.

‘A devastating critique of prewar Britain . . . disturbingly relevant to the world in which we live.’
— Gerard DeGroot, The Times

‘You won’t put it down . . . A really riveting read.’
— Rana Mitter, BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking

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