Description: Secularisation can mean many quite different things - rising unbelief, the privatisation of belief, weakening denominational identity, the development of a religiously neutral state. This book reveals both the many-sidedness of secularisation and the great unevenness with which it affected different areas of life. France is the classic example of the secularisation of society in the later nineteenth century. Church and school, then church and state, were separated. Town councils tore down crosses and banned processions. Teachers and doctors were seen as a new priesthood. Yet even in France things were not so simple. In the west, most people remained practising Catholics, and Lourdes demonstrated the continuing vitality of 'popular religion'. When we look at Germany and England, or compare Catholics with Protestants and Jews, the picture becomes even more complex. This book examines the nature and causes of religious change in the three countries, and the class, gender and regional differences within each.
Brief description:
Richard Overy is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He
has published more than 25 books on the history of air power, the Second
World War and the European dictatorships. His most recent books include
The Morbid Age: Britain and the Crisis of Civilisation 1919-1919(2009) and 1939: Countdown to War (2009).
He was the winner of the Wolfson Prize for history in 2004 and in 2010
was awarded the James Doolittle Award for his contributions to aviation
history. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.