First published in 1972, this book contains a collection of ten essays that document the feminine stereotypes that women fought against, and only partially erased, a hundred years ago. In an introductory essay, Martha Vicinus describes the perfect Victorian lady, showing that the ideal was a combination of sexual innocence, conspicuous consumption and worship of the family hearth. Indeed, this model in some form was the ideal of all classes as the perfect lady’s only functions were marriage and procreation. The text offers a valuable insight into Victorian culture and society.

The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon is the first critical edition of any of Spurgeon’s works, shedding light on Spurgeon’s early sermons which have never been published.

The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon is the first critical edition of any of Spurgeon’s works, shedding light on Spurgeon’s early sermons which have never been published.

The articles in this volume, originally published in a variety of journals between 1890 and 1937, deal with the themes of the distribution of income and welfare. Highlighting the contribution which Hobson made to welfare economics and the way in which he distanced himself from his more orthodox contemporaries in interpretation, the articles also show the changes in Hobson’s views over the decades in which they were written. This is a fascinating collection of material that provides an unparalleled depth of insight into the views of one of the most important economic thinkers of the early twentieth century.

First published in 1985, Having To summarises the situation of more than a million parents in the UK alone that survive as single parents. This thought-provoking book is based on interviews with more than 200 women and men of all ages and backgrounds. The accounts of what life can be like in the world of one parent families are revealing, sometimes disturbing, and above all, moving. In this book, parents talk in depth about their experiences when confronted by violence, infidelity, lesbianism, child abuse and paranoia. They portray stories that will provoke many questions about the state of the nuclear family.

This book proposes new understandings of modern life in Britain by bringing constructs of female spirituality centre stage and examining three ‘forgotten’ artists identified with the Pre-Raphaelites and Victorianism. Thomas Cooper Gotch, Robert Anning Bell and Frederick Cayley Robinson are resituated squarely within the tumultuous social and cultural changes of the period. Becoming visible again, in more inclusive histories, allows such artists not only to re-inhabit but to reshape narratives of modernism, reanimating the scholarly discourse and creating a dynamic cultural history of modern Britain expressed through their striking visions of womanhood. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, gender studies and British studies.

This study, first published in German in 1975, addresses the need for a comprehensive account of Roman social history in a single volume. Specifically, Alföldy attempts to answer three questions: What is the meaning of Roman social history? What is entailed in Roman social history? How is it to be conceived as history? Alföldy’s approach brings social structure much closer to political development, following the changes in social institutions in parallel with the broader political milieu. He deals with specific problems in seven periods: Archaic Rome, the Republic down to the Second Punic War, the structural change of the second century BC, the end of the Republic, the Early Empire, the crisis of the third century AD and the Late Empire. Excellent bibliographical notes specify the most important works on each subject, making it useful to the graduate student and scholar as well as to the advanced and well-informed undergraduate.

First published in 1987, this book discusses white-collar or commercial crime which has grown to be a major issue in our society today. Looking at research from North America and Britain, the book explores the way fraudsters are treated. It draws on various disciplines including Economics, Law, Politics, and Sociology in order to show the frequency and impact of different types of fraud. In this book, Dr. Levi introduces the reader to the key areas of debate: What pressures influence the law on fraud? How do state agencies, self-regulatory bodies, or other professionals police fraud? To what extent are money-laundering and international organized crime breaking down the distinction between policing of the underworld and the upperworld? Dr. Levi concludes with an analysis of national and international policy trends in relation to fraud. This book will be of interests to students of criminology, politics, and the sociology of law as well as to practicing lawyers and other professionals in the business sector.

First published in 1973, this title examines the development patterns of small businesses. It considers why people found firms; the factors that contribute to entrepreneurial success; problems of management succession and inheritance; the strengths and weaknesses of family firms; the reasons why small firms are taken over; and the social, economic and managerial context of their growth, decline, and revival. Based on a survey of sixty-four firms, each employing fewer than five hundred people, in engineering, hosiery, and knitwear, and on the records of 370 similar organisations, a striking gap in performance and management attitudes emerges as between dynamic, mostly founder-run firms and stagnant, mostly inherited ones. Where many books are either minutely specialised or highly abstract and over-generalised, Jonathan Boswell’s work is practical and diagnostic, probing the inner recesses of the small firm sector. With particular relevance to the difficulties faced by entrepreneurs in today’s economic environment, this title advances selective measures to deal with old firms and inheritance, and a wide range of policies to encourage new entrepreneurship.

In the twentieth century, urban growth was one of the most powerful catalysts of geographical, social and demographic change in the Western world. When this book was first published in 1989, however, a massive process of counter-urbanization was underway, which saw the loss of population and jobs in cities and a pronounced urban to rural shift. This book analyses the causes and consequences of urban decline in Britain and the developed world during this period and beyond, and assesses the implications for urban planning and policy. David Clark’s relevant and comprehensive title will be of value to students with a particular interest in urban geography and development.