Callum G. Brown Knihy

Humanists have been a major force in British life since the turn of the 20th century. Here, leading historians of religious non-belief Callum Brown, David Nash, and Charlie Lynch examine how humanist organisations brought ethical reform and rationalism to the nation as it faced the moral issues of the modern world. This book provides a long overdue account of this dynamic group.Developing through the Ethical Union (1896), the Rationalist Press Association (1899), the British Humanist Association (1963) and Humanists UK (2017), Humanists sought to reduce religious privilege but increase humanitarian compassion and human rights.After pioneering legislation on blasphemy laws, dignity in dying and abortion rights, they went on to help design new laws on gay marriage, and sex and moral education. Internationally, they endeavoured to end war and world hunger. And with Humanist marriages and celebration of life through Humanist funerals, national ritual and culture have recently been transformed.Based on extensive archival and oral-history research, this is the definitive history of Humanists as an ethical force in modern Britain.

The western world is becoming atheist. In the space of three generations, churchgoing and religious belief have become alien to millions. We are in the midst of one of humankind's great cultural changes. How has this happened?Becoming Atheist offers the most thorough analysis of this phenomenon to date, exploring through their own words how people have come to live their lives as if there is no God. It tells the stories of those who have come to secular lives in Britain, western Europe, the United States and Canada, mostly from Christian and Jewish backgrounds. Based on interviews with over 80 people born in 18 countries, Callum Brown shows that a long-latent humanism has been roused in the post-1945 secularising west. Focusing on the gender, ethnic and childhood dimensions of atheists from the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada and Europe, the author looks at how the religious condition of the western world changed during the 20th and 21st centuries.By listening to individuals' life stories, this book moves away from mere statistical or broad cultural analysis. Making extensive use of frank, humorous and sometimes harrowing personal testimony, Becoming Atheist exposes the people's role in renegotiating their own identities and fashioning a secular and humanist culture for the western world.

During the twentieth century, Britain turned from one of the most deeply religious nations of the world into one of the most secularised nations. This book provides a comprehensive account of religion in British society and culture between 1900 and 2000. It traces how Christian Puritanism and respectability framed the people amidst world wars, economic depressions, and social protest, and how until the 1950s religious revivals fostered mass enthusiasm. It then examines the sudden and dramatic changes seen in the 1960’s and the appearance of religious militancy in the 1980s and 1990s. With a focus on the themes of faith cultures, secularisation, religious militancy and the spiritual revolution of the New Age, this book uses people’s own experiences and the stories of the churches to display the diversity and richness of British religion. Suitable for undergraduate students studying modern British history, church history and sociology of religion.

Revealing how conservative Christians acted as moral vigilantes from 1945-65, this study exposes Britain's most powerful vigilante body, the Public Morality Council, an appendage of the Church, and how they badgered government and local councils into censoring sexual knowledge and atheist viewpoints until their spectacular collapse from 1965-80.

Britain Since 1707 is a major new textbook providing the first comprehensive history of modern Britain. Comprehensive in theme, topic and geographical region, it ensures that students are given an essential grounding in the history of the nation.

Postmodernism is the biggest thing to hit the History profession for almost 200 years. This work offers a guide to postmodern theory, discusses how historians have used it in their research and writing, and assesses criticisms and ways of responding to them. It serves as a companion to courses on Historical Theory and Historiography.