The age of equipoise

English mid-Victorian society is enlightening to study because it seemed to be in balance between the old and the new, the elements of growth and those of decay. The author examines the life and thought of the generation living between 1852 and 1867 in order to understand the unusual character of a people remarkably satisfied with themselves. He explains the social theory of the day and how it was harmonized with attempts to help those who did not benefit from its workings. He studies the legal and social disciplinary forces which gave the age its cohesiveness. And he examines the thought of the leaders of the period -- the statesmen, the writers, the artists, the educators, the churchmen -- in relation to what they said in the years before and after this time. This is a basic work both for students of English history and for students who seek to understand the context of thought for the literary figures of mid-Victorian society.