THE VICTORIAN AFTERMATH

A book to sell to customers who have read the Maurois' EDWARDIAN ERA or Benson's EDWARD VII. This is the last of a trilogy: the first book showed the failure of Victorianism; the second showed the rotting of the Victorian structure and the feverish striving for enjoyment; the third shows the crash that was pending -- and that came. There is less of the pen portraiture that characterizes the Maurois book; a wider field is given with less detail; the approach is psychological rather than historical; the author's interest is in trends and their manifestations. There are illuminating chapters on moral, religious, and cultural aspects, growth of interest in science and pseudo science, decline of morality, growth of mass circulation of reading matter, speeding up of transportation, crazo for sports, mania for excitement. There is also analysis of England's foreign affairs, alternate rise and fall of parties with the emergence of the Labor Party, internal problems -- Ireland, the strikes, the school question, the declining power of the House of Lords. Parallels Mark Sullivan's OUR TIMES, with less detail and more comment. The style is excellent, nearly humorous at times, and easy reading.