Urbanising Britain Essays on Class and Community in the Nineteenth Century

The essays in this collection reflect the increasing use of social science concepts within the field of historical geography.

Urbanising Britain brings together the work of some leading British historical geographers of the younger generation to consider nineteenth-century urbanization as a process, emphasizing the dimensions of class and community. The essays in this collection reflect the use of social science concepts within the field of historical geography, and are organized to follow urbanization from its origins in migration, to its consequences in urban culture and public health. The contributions combine conceptual sophistication with original empirical research to present a series of important and innovative statements about the changing nature of the Victorian city, and reflect the value of a critical theoretical perspective, hitherto absent from much work in this area.

List of figures; List of tables; Preface; Notes on contributors; Introduction: class, community and the processes of urbanisation Gerry Kearns and Charles W. J. Withers; 1. Biology, class and the urban penalty Gerry Kearns; 2. Public space and local communities: the example of Birmingham, 1840–1880 Bill Bramwell; 3. Class, culture and migrant identity: Gaelic Highlanders in urban Scotland Charles W. J. Withers; 4. The country and the city: sexuality and social class in Victorian Scotland J. A. D. Blaikie; 5. Mobility, the artisan community and popular politics in early nineteenth-century England Humphrey Southall; Notes; Consolidated bibliography; Index.

Urbanising Britain brings together the work of some leading British historical geographers of the younger generation to consider nineteenth-century urbanization as a process, emphasizing the dimensions of class and community.