The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation 1800-2000

The Death of Christian Britain uses the latest techniques to offer new formulations of religion and secularisation and explores what it has meant to be 'religious' and 'irreligious' during the last 200 years.

By listening to people's voices rather than purely counting heads, it offers a fresh history of de-christianisation, and predicts that the British experience since the 1960s is emblematic of the destiny of the whole of western Christianity.

Challenging the generally held view that secularization has been a long and gradual process beginning with the industrial revolution, it proposes that it has been a catastrophic short term phenomenon starting with the 1960's.

Is Christianity in Britain nearing extinction? Is the decline in Britain emblematic of the fate of western Christianity? Topical and controversial, The Death of Christian Britain is a bold and original work that will bring some uncomfortable truths to light.

The Church of England is dying, says Callum Brown, in The Death of Christian Britain. So, what's new? The difference, according to the Scottish historian, is in how long it's taken to reach the point of no return. Secularization theory, which emerged with the social sciences in the 19th century, was obsessed with the numbers of people not attending church. As the Industrial Revolution spread, Christians seized upon these numbers to illustrate how godforsaken our cities were becoming. Yet Brown argues this "authorized version" is mistaken. According to him, secularization began when the Beatles were releasing their first single in 1962. Instead of counting heads, he draws on anecdotal and cultural references to argue that Christianity was alive and well until the Swinging '60s. It just wasn't going to church....

He sheds fascinating (and sympathetic) light on the history of conversion, social action, and the church's public role in the nation. And his use of gender theory in the study of religion could be revolutionary. This may be a textbook, but it engages the mind and the soul. Sociologists and Christians in particular will be challenged to think harder. For "the Britain of the new millennium is showing the world how religion as we have known it can die." This is bound to unnerve Christians. Many might even take issue with the title, and refuse to read on. But to do so would be folly: a week spent immersed in Brown's book could reap substantially more fruit than a series of revival meetings. --Brian Draper, Amazon.co.uk