The battle for Christian Britain : sex, humanists and secularisation, 1945-1980 / Callum G. Brown.

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

©2019

xii, 326 pages ; 23 cm

"This deeply-researched book intervenes in post-war British history in new ways. Building on the author's previous works, it explains the resurgence of religiously conservative sexual morality in the 1940s and '50s by looking at moral vigilantism, licensing and broadcasting policies, before detailing the collapse of these structures in the 1960s and 1970s and the freedom given to the secular sexual revolution. The book complicates the jigsaw of moral change between 1945 and 1980 - from ending censorship to Mary Whitehouse, from prosecution of gays to anti-church campaigning, from banning of Humanist broadcasting to the flourishing of atheist scientists on TV. Examining a series of 'combative encounters', the book foregrounds the powerful Public Morality Council and BBC's Religious Advisory Committee, whilst case studies of London, Blackpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Lewis decentre the metropolis from national narratives of the sixties sexual revolution. Including struggles between Anglican and Catholic leaders, and the Humanist contribution to the 'Liberal Hour' of the 1960s, the story of the battle over the nation's religious character is placed central to Britain's modern history"-- Provided by publisher.

ebook version :

English

February 10, 2020

Includes bibliographical references and index.