Building Jerusalem: Nonconformity, Labour and the Social Question in Wales, 1906-1939

by Robert Pope

Overview

Much of the scholarship dedicated to the working-class culture of early twentieth-century Wales concerns secular, economic, and political matters. Relatively little attention has been given to religion, despite the fact that the 1904–5 revival brought many thousands into contact with the chapel. This study examines the relationship between the labor movement and the nonconformist chapels, tracing the emergence of a “social gospel,” its main protagonists, and its eclipse by the outbreak of World War II.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783160600
Publisher:	University of Wales Press
Publication date:	09/15/2014
Series:	Studies in Welsh History , #13
Edition description:	New edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Robert Pope is a reader in theology at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He is the author of Building Jerusalem: Labour, Nonconformity and the Social Question in Wales, 1906-1939, also published by University of Wales Press.

Table of Contents

Editor’s Foreword           

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

List of Abbreviations

1. Setting the Scene

2. The Nonconformist Response to Socialism, 1906-1914

3.  Labour, Socialism and Nonconformity

4. The Turning-Point 1910-1911: Nonconformity’s Social Conscience

5. Building Jerusalem: Nonconformity and Post-War Reconstruction

6. Losing the Battle

Conclusion

Sources and bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

This book is to be applauded for its synthesis of familiar general history with the interior life of the Nonconformist community.

Journal of the United Reformed Church History Society - David Bebbington

This work is original, well-informed, and a valuable addition to our knowledge of modern Wales.

The Expository Times - Professor John Kent

This book’s strength is its detailed treatment of the intellectual, individual, and organisational responses by Nonconformity to the 'social question' in Wales.

The Labour History Review

This is a book which will command respect and attention from all working in the field.

Congregational History Circle - Alan Argent

A fascinating depiction of a unique if tense and ambiguous relationship.

Welsh History Review - Ian Machin

Pope (theology, U. of Wales-Bangor) examines the relationship between the labor movement and the Nonconformist chapels in Wales during the early 20th century, and assesses the standard view of a mass shift of attention and devotion from religion to such bodies as the union lodge, workingman's institute, sports, and public house. Noting the success of the 1904-05 revival, he argues that the role of the chapel has been underestimated, and that is retained a significant hold on community life. Distributed in the US by Paul and Co. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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