Edwardian England and the Idea of Racial Decline An Empire's Future

Historians commonly depict Edwardian England as a place of great anxiety. Emerging from a long and exhausting conflict against the Boers in South Africa, Edwardians are often perceived as rocked by a profound set of doubts about the future of the British Empire, including the belief that the country was stricken by a malaise, commonly referred to as 'national deterioration' or 'degeneration'. Drawing upon a wide range of popular sources, this study considers the level of middle-class engagement with such strains of pessimistic thought, examining cultural life at both national and regional levels, and across a wide range of topics, including military reform, urban living, the Scouting movement and the 'hooligan' problem, thereby shedding new light on Edwardian England.

Christopher Prior is Lecturer in Twentieth Century History at the University of Southampton, UK. He is the author of Exporting Empire: Africa, Colonial Officials and the Construction of the Imperial State, c.1900-39 (2013).

Introduction
1. Military Efficacy and the State of the Nation
2. Health and Poverty in Urban England
3. Moral Reform, Youth Movements and Hooliganism
Conclusion