Originally published in 1986, this was a study of the British ethical societies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These societies emerged out of the vortex of distinctive social, philosophical, and religious ideas in the middle of the nineteenth century with the specific educative aim of providing society with non-religious moral instruction. They became havens of discussion, rallying-points for progressive campaigns (notably involving education and the Boer War), and places of secular worship for those estranged by Church and dissent. This network of humanistic clubs was...