The Strange Death of Liberal England

At the beginning of the twentieth century England's empire spanned the globe, its economy was strong, and its political system seemed immune to the ills that inflicted so many other countries. After a resounding electoral triumph in 1906, the Liberals formed the government of the most powerful nation on earth, yet within a few years the House of Lords lost its absolute veto over legislation, the Home Rule crisis brought Ireland to the brink of civil war and led to an army mutiny, the campaign for woman's suffrage created widespread civil disorder and discredited the legal and penal systems, and an unprecedented wave of strikes swept the land.
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The late George Dangerfield wrote widely on both English and American History; he received both the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize for The Era of Good Feelings. Among his other books are The Bengal Mutiny, Victoria's Heir: The Education of a Prince, The Awakening of American Nationalism, 1815-1828, and The Damnable Question: A Study in Anglo-Irish Relations.