God and greater Britain

the long version

God and Greater Britain is an examination of crucial aspects of the relationship between religion and national consciousness in Britain and Ireland at a pivotal period in the history of both countries. Innovative in the way it transcends the narrow limits of traditional 'church history', it nevertheless demonstrates the centrality of religion in Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as England in the period. An exploration of the various modes of approaching the history of religion and nationality is John Wolffe's starting place. He continues by describing and analysing the place of religion in nineteenth and early twentieth century society. The focus is particularly on the impact of evangelicalism and Catholic revival, and on the differing manifestations of official and unofficial religion. The second part of the book builds on this foundation to relate religion more explicitly to issues of politics, culture and nationality. It opens with some verbal 'snapshots' portraying the various dimensions of the situations around 1850, and continues with chapters concentrating on politics, and on theology and national cultures. The final major chapter analyses the relationship of religion to national experiences of empire and war, and the book concludes with a summary of its implications, relating especially to theories of secularization. This book places 'national' religion in its historical context in a fresh way and as such will interest all modern historians and historians of religion.