THE AGE OF PARADOX

by John W. Dodds ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A lengthy, and for that matter weighty ""Biography of England: 1841-1851"" which will find its place as a reference book for English and English history courses, but which the general public may feel free to bypass. Mr. Dodds' main emphasis is the correction of the fallacy that the Victorian Age was an age of strict morality. The author enjoys pointing up such contrasting pulls in the ethical structure of English society at that time as the fact that Manchester, in this highly moral decade, had 375 barrooms of which the Queen was ignorant- or chose to ignore. Investigating all social levels as well as the areas of enterprise from foreign trade, the church, and the new industrialization, and every facet of human conduct from typical domestic dilemmas to governmental attitudes, the author build up quite a case, which is climaxed by the Great Exhibition which was held in London in 1851. In this closing chapter, one gets a digest of the decade's hopes, accomplishments and shortcomings..... The lack of warmth here, or the Pepysian love of gossip and curiosity fail to give this more than an impersonal interest- over and above its sociological and historical value.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Rinehart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1952

Categories: NONFICTION