Dons and Workers is a history of university adult education in England. It focuses on the University of Oxford whose leading contribution to this movement presents an unfamiliar portrait of this "elitist" university and its influence on the nation. Lawrence Goldman considers the relationship between intellectuals and the working class over the past century and a half, examining the role of adult education in the evolution from late-Victorian liberalism to twentieth-century socialism.

How and why should we study Victorian Britain? The answer to this question used to be quite straightforward. It was the Victorian contribution to modern politics which stood out above all else. Today we are not so sure. This book suggest that politics are still central, but must be more broadly construed, as a pervasive part of Victorian culture as a whole.

Lawrence Goldman examines the origins of social policies in the mid-Victorian period from the 1850s to the 1880s. He focuses on the Social Science Association (the SSA), a remarkable organization whose debates on Victorian society attracted many eminent and powerful contributors. The Association is famous for its influence over many different social policies, including the emancipation of women. It was the first and most important arena for the pioneer British feminists. Goldman depicts the SSA in the context of its age, and explains its relevance to politics, social life and intellectual...

When Henry Fawcett died in 1884 he was among the most famous men of his age. From a relatively humble background he had risen to become Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge, a Liberal MP and a minister in Gladstone's second government. And he had achieved all this despite being blinded at the age of twenty-five in a shooting accident. Indeed, he was probably the first blind MP in British history. This book examines aspects of his life and career - his personal life, including his friendship with the critic and writer, Leslie Stephen, and his marriage to Millicent Garrett Fawcett, the...

Dr. Joseph Silverman had it all. He had an insatiable appetite for the California life style until a reversal of fortune sent him back to his Southern roots. He fanaticized of a more sedate and dull life in his rural town surroundings. But reality and fantasy make strange bedfellows as he found out when he crossed paths with two southern women, Justine and Colette. Joseph found out that life in a small town is often seldom what it seems.

Lawrence Goldman examines the origins of social policies in the mid-Victorian period from the 1850s to the 1880s. He focuses on the Social Science Association (the SSA), a remarkable organization whose debates on Victorian society attracted many eminent and powerful contributors. The Association is famous for its influence over many different social policies, including the emancipation of women. It was the first and most important arena for the pioneer British feminists. Goldman depicts the SSA in the context of its age, and explains its relevance to politics, social life and intellectual...