Gladstone's Influence in America
Reactions in the Press to Modern Religion and Politics
Authors: Peterson, Stephen
Free Preview- Investigates the phenomenon of William Gladstone’s fame and influence in the United States
- Examines American press coverage of William Gladstone in order to shed light on the influence of modern ideas in American religion and politics
- Appeals to scholars of Victorian studies, British political history, Anglo-American relations, American religious history, and nineteenth-century American and British intellectual history
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- About this book
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By the end of the nineteenth century, William Gladstone was arguably the most popular statesman in America since Lincoln. How did a British prime minister achieve such fame in an era of troubled Anglo-American relations? And what do press reactions to Gladstone’s policies and published writings reveal about American society? Tracing Gladstone’s growing fame in the United States, beginning with his first term as prime minister in 1868 until his death in 1898, this volume focuses on periodicals of the era to illuminate how Americans responded to modern influences in religion and politics. His forays into religious controversy highlight the extent to which faith influenced the American cult of Gladstone. Coverage of Gladstone’s involvement in issues such as church disestablishment, papal infallibility, Christian orthodoxy, atheism and agnosticism, faith and science, and liberal theology reveal deepening religious and cultural rifts in American society. Gladstone’s Influence in America offers the most comprehensive picture to date of the statesman’s reputation in the United States.
- About the authors
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Stephen J. Peterson is Adjunct Instructor of Humanities and History, Tulsa Community College, USA.
- Reviews
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“This book offers a new and original contribution to the field, addressing areas which are at the center of much debate, including Anglo-American relations, the relationship between religion and politics, the culture of the Irish-American diaspora, free trade, and the circulation of ideas and elites across the Atlantic.” (Eugenio F. Biagini, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cambridge, UK)
“This valuable study is rooted in the expansive quality of influence. Building on the work of David Bebbington, Peterson demonstrates how the self-fashioning of Gladstone always involved two roles, the politician and the cultural controversialist. This book details for the first time how Gladstone’s political fame and lifelong engagement as a Christian apologist drew him into the American culture wars of the late nineteenth century, and how the American press fashioned for themselves a mythic version of what it meant to be a great international statesman.” (John Powell, Professor of History, Oklahoma Baptist University, USA)
- Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 3-18
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Religion, Politics, and Journalism: Modern Influences in Nineteenth-Century America
Pages 19-36
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The Politics of Religion: Disestablishing the Irish Church
Pages 39-59
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The Specter of Popery: Infallibility and the Vatican Decrees
Pages 61-100
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Atheism and Politics: The Charles Bradlaugh Imbroglio
Pages 101-122
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Gladstone's Influence in America
- Book Subtitle
- Reactions in the Press to Modern Religion and Politics
- Authors
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- Stephen Peterson
- Copyright
- 2018
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-97996-0
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-97996-0
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-97995-3
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-07435-7
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XI, 243
- Topics