Mercy and British Culture, 1760-1960

James Gregory is Associate Professor of Modern British History at Plymouth University, UK. He is the author of Victorians and Vegetarians (2007), Reformers, Patrons and Philanthropists (2010), Victorians Against the Gallows (2011), The Poetry and the Politics (2014) and Libraries, Books and Collectors of Texts, 1600–1900 (2018).

Gregory has provided his readers with an incredibly researched and powerfully argued book on what remains an elusive concept. It is a book to be savoured slowly, providing a historical space to think about compassion today.

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1 Religion, culture and embodiment1 Mercy: Religious and philosophical dimensions 2 The culture of mercy in the long nineteenth century 3 Merciful agents and subjects Part 2 Mercy challenged4 Mercy for Ireland 5 British mercy and the French Revolution 6 Empire of mercy 7 The mercy of war Conclusion: Modern mercyNotes Select bibliographyIndex