商品簡介
Cunningham (social history, U. of Kent, UK) traces the "meandering stream" of the slow and halting process of the extension of democratic rights in Britain, from the Reform Act of 1832 to the extension of the voting franchise to all women and men over the age of 30 in 1918. He examines the political efforts of both opponents and proponents of democratization, arguing that many of the elites saw democratization as a way of staving off revolution. The tension between democracy and the exigencies of foreign policy and the maintenance of empire are given prominence in the discussion. Cunningham concludes that the fears of the elites regarding democracy were not realized, in large part because the working class was indoctrinated into notions of racial superiority, capitalism as the natural order, and power being exercised by those suited to it by birth and education. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
作者簡介
Hugh Cunningham is Professor of Social History, University of Kent. He is the author of several books, including the highly-regardedChildren and Childhood in Western Society since 1500 (Longman, 1995).
