This collection of essays explores the questions of what counted as knowledge in Victorian Britain, who defined knowledge and the knowledgeable, by what means and by what criteria.

During the Victorian period, the structure of knowledge took on a new and recognizably modern form, and the disciplines that we now take for granted took shape. The ways in which knowledge was tested also took on a new form, with oral examinations and personal contacts giving way to formal written tests. New institutions of knowledge were created: museums were important at the start of the period (knowledge...

Professor Martin Daunton's major work of original synthesis explores the politics of taxation in the "long" nineteenth century. In 1799, income tax stood at 20% of national income; by the outbreak of the First World War, it was 10%. This equitable exercise in fiscal containment lent the government a high level of legitimacy, allowing it to fund war and welfare in the twentieth century. Combining new research with a comprehensive survey of existing knowledge, this book examines the complex financial relationship between the State and its citizens.

This original work explores the politics of British taxation in the twentieth century. By 1979, taxes were taken from almost half of the total national income, and contributed to the political rise of Margaret Thatcher. But the level of taxation had risen from 10% in 1914 to about 25% between the wars, without provoking serious discontent (as in other European countries). It also grew again during the Second World War. This study explores the reasons that the earlier tax increases were accepted, and not those of 1979.