Democracy, Capitalism and Empire in Late Victorian Britain, 1885–1910

Book excerpt: Late Victorian Britain witnessed three challenges to its eighteenth-century Republican Ideal: democracy, capitalism and ethnic nationalism. Calling upon the languages and debates of the period, the book examines contending images of the social order with new data analytic techniques and information. Joining the contextual study of history to advanced analytic techniques refutes standard interpretations and provides a more complete portrait of the period. The conclusions on democratic transition have important implications for understanding today's efforts to reap democracy's rewards.