First Published in 1970. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Development of the Mechanics’ Institute Movement in Britain and Beyond questions the prevailing view that mechanics’ institutes made little contribution to adult working-class education from their foundation in the 1820s to 1890. The book traces the historical development of several mechanics’ institutes across Britain and reveals that many institutes supported both male and female working-class membership before state intervention at the end of the nineteenth century resulted in the development of further education for all. This book presents evidence to suggest that the movement remained active and continued to expand until the end of the nineteenth century. Drawing on historical accounts, Walker describes the developments which shaped the movement and emphasises the institutes’ provision for scientific and technical education. He also considers the impact that the British movement had on the overseas development of mechanics’ institutes – particularly in Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand. The book concludes with a discussion of the legacy of the movement and its contribution to twentieth-century adult education. The Development of the Mechanics’ Institute Movement advances the argument that the movement made a substantial contribution to adult education for the working classes and provided a firm foundation for further education in Britain and beyond. It will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the areas of education, history and sociology, as well as the philosophy of education, technical and vocational education, and post-compulsory education.

Robert Owen and the Owenites were associated with the rise of an early industrial society in Britain and with the development of an agricultural, frontier society in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. This book, originally published in 1969, was the first to use both British and American source material, and tells the story of Robert Owen and the movement associated with his name, from the standpoint of comparative social and intellectual history. The book directs new light on Owenism, and at the same time illuminates general problems of the history of social movements and social change in modern societies.

Robert Owen and the Owenites were associated with the rise of an early industrial society in Britain and with the development of an agricultural, frontier society in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. This book, originally published in 1969, was the first to use both British and American source material, and tells the story of Robert Owen and the movement associated with his name, from the standpoint of comparative social and intellectual history. The book directs new light on Owenism, and at the same time illuminates general problems of the history of social movements and social change in modern societies.

In 1750, half the population were unable to sign their names; by 1914 England, together with handful of advanced Western countries, had for the first time in history achieved a nominally literate society. This book seeks to understand how and why literacy spread into every interstice of English society, and what impact it had on the lives and minds of the common people.

The Scottish Invention of English Literature explores the origins of the teaching of English literature in the academy. It demonstrates how the subject began in eighteenth-century Scottish universities before being exported to America and other countries. The emergence of English as an institutionalised university subject was linked to the search for distinctive cultural identities throughout the English-speaking world. This book explores the role the discipline played in administering restraints on the expression of indigenous literary forms, and shows how the growing professionalisation of English as a subject offered a breeding ground for academics and writers with an interest in native identity and cultural nationalism. This book is a comprehensive account of the historical origins of the university subject of English literature and provides a wealth of new material on its particular Scottish provenance.