Dilwyn Porter

The significance of the Corinthians Football Club, founded in 1882, has been widely acknowledged by historians of football and by sports historians generally. As a ’super club’ comprising the best amateur talent available they were an important formative influence on football in Britain from the 1880s to the 1930s. As a touring club - they first travelled to South Africa in 1897 and made regular forays into Europe and also to Canada, the United States and Brazil - they were the self-proclaimed standard bearers for gentlemanly values in sport. Indeed for many years they were most famous football club in the world, drawing huge crowds and helping to ensure that the version of football emanating from the English public schools and universities in the mid-nineteenth century became a global game. Though their playing strength and influence waned after the First World War, they remained a significant force through to 1939, upholding ’true blue’ amateurism at a time when football was increasingly associated with professionalism and seen as a branch of commercial entertainment. Whilst much has been written about the Corinthians, mainly by club insiders, this is the first complete scholarly history to cover their activities both in England and in other parts of the world. It critically reassesses the club’s role in the development of football and fills a gap in existing literature on the relationship between the progress of the game in England and globally. Most crucially, the book re-examines the sporting ideology of gentlemanly amateurism within the context of late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth century society.

The significance of the Corinthians Football Club, founded in 1882, has been widely acknowledged by historians of football and by sports historians generally. As a ’super club’ comprising the best amateur talent available they were an important formative influence on football in Britain from the 1880s to the 1930s. As a touring club - they first travelled to South Africa in 1897 and made regular forays into Europe and also to Canada, the United States and Brazil - they were the self-proclaimed standard bearers for gentlemanly values in sport. Indeed for many years they were most famous football club in the world, drawing huge crowds and helping to ensure that the version of football emanating from the English public schools and universities in the mid-nineteenth century became a global game. Though their playing strength and influence waned after the First World War, they remained a significant force through to 1939, upholding ’true blue’ amateurism at a time when football was increasingly associated with professionalism and seen as a branch of commercial entertainment. Whilst much has been written about the Corinthians, mainly by club insiders, this is the first complete scholarly history to cover their activities both in England and in other parts of the world. It critically reassesses the club’s role in the development of football and fills a gap in existing literature on the relationship between the progress of the game in England and globally. Most crucially, the book re-examines the sporting ideology of gentlemanly amateurism within the context of late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth century society.

Joseph Chamberlain's political career was immense, embracing the campaign for state education, municipal reform, opposition to Irish home rule, social reform, foreign and colonial affairs, and imperial preference. He was a formative influence on the development of party politics in late Victorian and Edwardian England. This bibliography provides the most comprehensive survey to date of primary and secondary material relating to this seminal figure.The bibliographical references listed in the volume cover every stage and aspect of Chamberlain's controversial career. Editorial comments are designed to assist the student and the researcher. The work also cites key articles detailing Chamberlain's relationship with the press and surveys the abundant political ephemera provoked by his career. In addition, the volume includes a chronology, biographical essay, and indexes. The volume seeks to provide a starting point for historians and other researchers interested in Chamberlain, his politics, and the conflicts his career engendered.

First published in 1988, Modernization Frustrated (now with a new preface by the authors) is a provocative analysis of modern British economic and political history. It takes as its central theme the ascendancy of the core financial institutions—the City, the Bank of England and the Treasury—and argues that, in the legitimate pursuit of their own interests, the financiers have committed the British state to a liberal economic orthodoxy, which is very often at conflict with the best interests of British producers. Tracing the roots of this financial ascendancy back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the authors highlight how early industrialists were excluded from circles of wealth and power due to class prejudice, a legacy that persisted well into the 20th century. This enduring bias has allowed the free movement of capital to take precedence over the funding and restructuring needs of industry, contributing to Britain’s decline as a manufacturing economy compared to other developed capitalist nations. Continuous modernization is a pre-requisite for the survival and development of an industrial economy, and the authors describe in detail the many initiatives and movements throughout the 20th century which were rendered ineffective, because the proponents were unable to secure the support of government and financial institutions.

Since its inception in the late 19th century, Britain's mail order industry both exploited and generated social networks in building its businesses. The common foundation of the sector was the agency system; Sales were made through catalogues held by agents, ordinary people in families, neighbourhoods, pubs, clubs and workplaces. Through this agency system mail order firms in Britain were able to tap social networks both to build a customer base, but also to obtain vital information on creditworthiness. In this, the first comprehensive history of the British mail order industry, the authors combine business and social history to fully explain the features and workings of this industry. They show how British general mail order industry firms such as Kay and Co., Empire Stores, Littlewoods, and Grattan grew from a range of businesses as diverse as watch sales or football pools. A range of business innovations and strategies were developed throughout the twentieth century, including technological development and labour process rationalisation. Indeed, the sector was in the vanguard of many aspects of change from supply chain logistics to computerization. The social and gender profile of the home shopper also changed markedly as the industry developed. These changes are charted, from the male-dominated origins of the industry to the growing influence of women both within the firm and, more importantly, as the centre of the mail order market. The book also draws parallels and contrasts with the much more widely studied mail order industry of the United States. The final section of the book examines the rise of internet shopping and the new challenges and opportunities it provided for the mail order industry. Here the story is one of continuity and fracture as the established mail order companies struggle to adjust to a business environment which they had partly created, but which also rested on a new range of core competencies and technological and demographic change.