The World of the Edwardian Child
as seen in Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopædia, 1908–1910
by Michael Tracy
For Britain, the early years of the twentieth century – the "Edwardian" period - were the culmination of a glorious era. (After the death of Queen Victoria, Edward VII reigned from 1901 till 1910.)
Scientific and industrial progress during the previous century had brought great material benefits to much - but not all - of the population. With its great Empire and invincible Navy, Britain was the most powerful country in the world. People looked to the future with confidence, assuming that this progress would continue and that Britain would remain supreme.
But with the cataclysm of the First World War, the world and Britain with it were to change for ever.
This book provides a vivid and comprehensive overview of life and thought in Edwardian society, based on Arthur Mee's Children's Encyclopædia - a work of over five thousand pages first published between1908 and 1910.
Through this original approach, Michael Tracy's book throws new light on attitudes to childhood and the state of education, on scientific knowledge, on attitudes in matters of class, race and religion, on imperialism and on contemporary views on other countries.
Tracy asks how the upbringing of children at that time prepared them for the challenges of war and its aftermath, and whether those assumptions of the Edwardian period have continued to hamper Britain's adjustment to loss of Empire and a reduced role in the world.
Illustrations play an important role in the Encyclopædia: nearly a hundred of these have been reproduced. Some examples are shown in miniature in this website.
Material on this website may be reproduced but the source must be acknowledged, preferably by a link to the present site. The author welcomes queries and comments:
contact mtracy@skynet.be
TO VIEW THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK ON GOOGLE BOOKS
(NB owing to a technical problem which Google cannot at present resolve,
this book appears on their site under a wrong heading....)
