Morality and the Market in Victorian Britain

The industrial revolution took place in Britain first, but the middle classes who had most to gain from rampant capitalism were held back by their Christian beliefs and sense of social duty. In this stimulating study of mid-Victorian ethics and the political economy, Geoffrey Searle argues that entrenched ideals of public virtue posed a much more effective challenge to market forces than the need to mitigate poverty. Highly readable and instructive, the book captures the ideological dilemma at the heart of nineteenth-century British history.