James Hobson

Radical Victorians by James Hobson is a fascinating glimpse into the nonconforming side of Victorian culture.

While these are essentially biographical sketches I like that each chapter is titled with the issue for which that person is most associated. Even with the person's name as a subtitle I think it allows Hobson to be more inclusive of other individuals in discussing the topic. As one would expect, there is also a lot of crossover since many of these people cared passionately about other related topics. I guess what I am saying is that each chapter is a nice mix of biography and discussion about the movements more broadly.

As he points out, many of these people were far from perfect. They often held views that are certainly offensive to the 21st century mind and many were even questionably ethical by their own contemporary's minds. That doesn't change the impact they had in the areas discussed and, while making them less appealing, it also highlights the difficulty in expecting anyone to be perfectly aligned with our own views. We could learn from that. It doesn't mean we don't hold our current activists accountable for offensive views but it does suggest that we work with people on some issues while working against them on others. This will lead to far more progress than strict polarization where someone who doesn't align perfectly is discarded and their efforts in mutual areas ignored. We are all students and we are all teachers, we all seek change and we all should be open to change ourselves.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (más)