The 'Natural Leaders' and their World: Politics, Culture and Society in Belfast, c. 1801-1832 (Reappraisals in Irish History LUP)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.19 (570 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1786940124 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 284 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2015-11-25 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
The interplay of politics and culture is discussed, as is the accuracy of Belfast's reputation as the 'Athens of the North' and the religious underpinnings of the town's charitable societies. In examining these areas, attention is paid to the influence of trends such as romanticism and evangelicalism and of writers such as Lord Byron, Walter Scott, Robert Owen and Thomas Chalmers, and it is argued that, both culturally and politically, the Presbyterian middle classes of Belfast inhabited a British world.. This book is a richly detailed exploration of the complex and cosmopolitan urban culture inhabited by the Presbyterian elite of late-Georgian Belfast, which will prove to be of interest to a wide range of scholars working on the political, cultural and intellectual histories of both Ireland and Britain during the age of reform. Employing both biographical and thematic approaches, the book begins by examining the story of the Tennents, one of the most prominent Presbyterian families in early-nineteenth-century Belfast, before turning to reconstruct their milieu. In addition, the book contains the first serious scholarly examination of the cultural and intellectual life of the town in the early-nineteenth century, and the first major treatment of the middle classes' philanthropic activities. Challenging existing nar
Dr Jonathan Jeffrey Wright holds an IRCHSS-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin and is a research fellow on the AHRC-funded Scientific Metropolis project at Queen's University Belfast.
By stepping out of the usual historiographical constraints placed upon the period, Wright has produced a confident and enlightening first monograph, one that hopefully will help to steer future research into what is perhaps the most neglected period of modern Ulster's history."--Reviews in History"Informed by the most recent historiographical trends and research, Wright's book demonstrates the numerous new avenues available to historians of Ulster. Smartly organized and engagingly written, it is an important work."--Reviews in History"A fine book, a well-written and insightful study on early nineteenth-century Belfast politics. If the book raises as many questions as it answers, we are further indebted to the