James C. Turner – författare

Until the 19th century, atheism and agnosticism were viewed as bizarre aberrations. But atheism emerged as a viable alternative to other ideologies. How and why it became possible is the subject of this cultural revolution.

Historian James Turner focuses on the great rise of Victorian concern for the humane treatment of animals, one of the most noteworthy flowering of such sentiment in modern times and one that engaged the support of the rich and the powerful, of church dignitaries, peers and ministers, and the queen herself. In delving into the history of animal rights, he also offers a fresh perspective on such varied aspects of Victorian culture as attitudes toward sex, pain, child labor, women, poverty, and science. Turner draws on extensive research in the archives of animal protection societies, literature of the period, and controversial writings on the treatment of animals. He argues that the dual shocks of industrialization and urbanization helped produce a deeper emotional identification with the natural world. Scientists of the day, proclaiming that human beings were close kin to beasts, not only encouraged but demanded considerate treatment for animals, a sentiment that reached its liveliest expression in the antivivisection controversy.By the turn of the century, the author demonstrates, new conceptions of human nature and heightened sensitivity even to the plight of lower life-forms were contributing to a new understanding of man's place in nature.

Originally published in 1999. James Turner's biography offers the first modern account of Norton's life and its significance, following him from his perilous travels across India as a young merchant to his role as his country's preeminent cultural critic. Turner shows how Norton developed the key ideas that still underlie the humanities—historicism and culture—and how his influence endures in America's colleges and universities because of institutions he developed and models he devised.