Geographies of British Modernity: Space and Society in the Twentieth Century

Copyright © 2003 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Geographies of British Modernity: Space and Society in the Twentieth Century

Editor(s): David Gilbert, David Matless, Brian Short

Published Online: 14 JAN 2008

Print ISBN: 9780631235002

Online ISBN: 9780470752258

DOI: 10.1002/9780470752258

About this Book

Product Information

About The Product

This volume brings together leading scholars in the geography and history of twentieth-century Britain to illustrate the contribution that geographical thinking can make to understanding modern Britain.


  • The first collection to explore the contribution that geographical thinking can make to our understanding of modern Britain.
  • Contains thirteen essays by leading scholars in the geography and history of twentieth-century Britain.
  • Focuses on how and why geographies of Britain have formed and changed over the past century.
  • Combines economic, political, social and cultural geographies.
  • Demonstrates the vitality of work in this field and its relevance to everyday life.

Table of contents

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      Frontmatter (pages i–xi)

    1. Chapter 1

      Historical Geographies of British Modernity (pages 1–28)

      Brian Short, David Gilbert and David Matless

  3. Part I: Surveying British Modernity

    1. Chapter 2

      A Century of Progress? Inequalities in British Society, 1901–2000 (pages 29–53)

      Danny Dorling

    2. Chapter 3

      The Conservative Century? Geography and Conservative Electoral Success During the Twentieth Century (pages 54–79)

      Ron Johnston, Charles Pattie, Danny Dorling and David Rossiter

    3. Chapter 4

      Mobility in the Twentieth Century: Substituting Commuting for Migration? (pages 80–96)

      Colin G. Pooley

    4. Chapter 5

      Qualifying the Evidence: Perceptions of Rural Change in Britain in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century (pages 97–112)

      Alun Howkins

  4. Part II: Sites Of British Modernity

    1. Chapter 6

      ‘A Power for Good or Evil’: Geographies of the M1 in Late Fifties Britain (pages 113–131)

      Peter Merriman

    2. Chapter 7

      A New England: Landscape, Exhibition and Remaking Industrial Space in the 1930s (pages 132–150)

      Denis Linehan

    3. Chapter 8

      A Man's World? Masculinity and Metropolitan Modernity at Simpson Piccadilly (pages 151–167)

      Bronwen Edwards

    4. Chapter 9

      Mosques, Temples and Gurdwaras: New Sites of Religion in Twentieth-Century Britain (pages 168–184)

      Simon Naylor and James R. Ryan

  5. Part III: Geography, Nation, Identity

    1. Chapter 10

      ‘Stop Being so English’: Suburban Modernity and National Identity in The Twentieth Century (pages 185–203)

      David Gilbert and Rebecca Preston

    2. Chapter 11

      Nation, Empire and Cosmopolis: Ireland and the Break with Britain (pages 204–228)

      Gerry Kearns

    3. Chapter 12

      British Geographical Representations of Imperialism and Colonial Development in the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century (pages 229–249)

      Robin A. Butlin

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      Afterword: Emblematic Landscapes of the British Modern (pages 250–257)

      David Matless, Brian Short and David Gilbert

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      Index (pages 258–268)

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