An End to Poverty?: A Historical Debate

Description

In the 1790s there was a fundamental shift in attitudes to poverty (led by Condorcet and Tom Paine), one which believed that poverty could be alleviated or even eliminated. Such thinking was robustly countered by Christian evangelicals (such as Malthus). But it surfaced again from the late nineteenth century, forming the ideas of social reformers such as the Webbs and Edwardian thinkers about the welfare state. The book is published to coincide with the Anglo-American Historical Conference on 'Wealth and Poverty'.

Gareth Stedman-Jones is Professor of Political Science at Cambridge, a Fellow of King's and Director of the Centre for History and Economics. His works include Outcast London and Language of Class.

[Stedman Jones] produces an argument that is not only powerful in its own right but should act as a stimulus and inspiration to others. -- David Feldman * History Today *