The Audit of War
Julian Amery reviews a work on the rise and fall of industrial Britain.
- The Audit of War
Correlli Barnett – Macmillan, 1986 - xii + 359 pp. - £14.95
Under the rather misleading title of The Audit of War, Correlli Barnett has written what purports to be the story of the decline and fall of industrial Britain.
Like Gibbon, he attributes much of the responsibility to Christianity – rather than the religious revival in early nineteenth-century Britain. Christianity, he argues, induced a guilt complex. Guilt led to the debauching of the working classes through excessive welfare expenditure. Secondary objects of his wrath are the educational system with its emphasis on the arts and neglect of the sciences; also the harsh laissez-faire attitude of British management inherited from the earliest days of the industrial revolution.
Like Gibbon, he attributes much of the responsibility to Christianity – rather than the religious revival in early nineteenth-century Britain. Christianity, he argues, induced a guilt complex. Guilt led to the debauching of the working classes through excessive welfare expenditure. Secondary objects of his wrath are the educational system with its emphasis on the arts and neglect of the sciences; also the harsh laissez-faire attitude of British management inherited from the earliest days of the industrial revolution.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.