British Quakerism, 1860-1920: The Transformation of a Religious Community

In 1860 the British Society of Friends was a peculiar inward-looking sect, diminishing in numbers and influence. By 1920 British Quakerism, theologically liberal, socially active, and radically pacifist, emerged from a dramatic confrontation with the Warrior State possessed of economic, social, and moral influence out of all proportion to its still minuscule size (20,000). This carefully researched study chronicles the story of Quakerism's transformation during one of the most momentous periods in the history of the London (now British) Yearly Meeting of Friends.