Author Description

Drawing on the fruits of recent research, this book reassesses the nature and seriousness of the Edwardian crisis, exploring the tensions of these years in relation to the longer-term trends of modern British history and the key areas of current historiographical debate. Among the themes considered are the viability of Edwardian Liberalism in the face of competition from the Labour left and the Unionist right; the problems of the Conservative party; and the expanding role of the state in the provision of social welfare and the organisation of economic and industrial life. The reasons for the growth of extra-parliamentary protest are discussed and the main components of the domestic crisis - constitutional and party conflict, suffragette militancy, trade union and Irish unrest - are examined against the background of social and economic change and the developing crisis in external affairs which culminated in the outbreak of the First World War.