History:Ben Wilson is one of the rising stars of historical writing. His first book, The Laughter of Triumph (2005), received considerable critical acclaim, which was particularly impressive for a debut author's 464-page take on a "forgotten hero", 19th- century satirist William Hone. In Decency and Disorder, Wilson has produced a historical tome with wide potential appeal.
Wilson aims to re-examine the social situation of the period immediately before Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837. In so doing, he sheds light on how the ostentatious moralising that came to define the Victorian era was in fact in evidence in the years just before her reign began, a reaction to the previous generation's relative social freedom. Wilson's approach is effective, well- structured and entertaining. He writes energetically, drawing upon a cast of characters from across society, opening with William Palfrey, who as a recent Cambridge graduate protested the infringement on his liberty to swim in public by parading stark naked down the banks of a canal. Palfrey, along with a grandmother chastened by her grandchildren for her bad language, and London historian Francis Place, a judgmental sort who was himself the son of a tavern-keeper, recur throughout the book as classic examples of the hypocrisy of the era.
Wilson defines cant as "sloppy thinking, if you are being kind, or, at the very worst . . . a total lack of sincerity". Byron (1788-1824) was the best-known and most vociferous enemy of cant, railing against the uninformed adhesion to supposedly Christian ideals that were gaining prevalence towards the end of his life. In the relatively lax early 19th century, such moralising "was considered distinctly unBritish". For the British, Wilson is at pains to point out, had been considered to be great fun by their neighbours across the water, the French. The pre- Victorian British, it was thought, had a better time, enjoyed more drink, better meat and the charms of more amiable women. They were famously fat, and even more famously violent and foul-mouthed when drunk. They lived in the richest nation on earth, and like the belligerent protagonists of Punch and Judy (as depicted on the book jacket), were largely unregulated in their private endeavours. For this wealth and freedom to act as they pleased, they were often admired.
The extremes of consumer culture, however, were making people lazy, and London was becoming overcrowded and dirty. The economy rose and fell rapidly during the wars with France, and just as the middle and upper classes had become accustomed to an affluent and comfortable existence, the French Revolution spread anxiety and, with it, a wave of malaise. The ruling class began to look to the situation in urban areas with frightened eyes. Conditions for the poor had disimproved, and lack of productivity, post-war unemployment, drunkenness, contagious disease and illegitimate births were cited as proof of a downswing in what we might now call "family values". And so the Victorian era as it is more commonly understood began. Civic societies and supposedly philanthropic movements got into full swing, ready to set things right, aiming to eradicate poverty, or rather, the distasteful and detrimental accompaniments of poverty.
The question left hanging in the air by Wilson's book is whether the British are about to begin this cycle anew, as local governments once again exert more social control on UK residents, often supported by the residents themselves. As Decency and Disorder hits the shelves, hooded youths will be dismissed from British street corners by "electronic teenager deterrent" devices designed to clear common spaces of undesirable under-20s with an uncomfortable 16kHz buzz. But it is not just the British who favour such draconian behaviour control, for Ireland's young people are now eligible for Asbos, just like their UK counterparts.
In this study of the descent into puritanical behaviour by a previously liberty-loving people, Wilson remains positive about the greater social effects that went on to be wrought by the Victorians, particularly in terms of education and health. It is difficult to imagine our leaders today managing to offset their own destructive social cant with such important reforms as those effected by the Victorians.
Nora Mahony works in publishing in London
Decency and Disorder: The Age of Cant 1789-1837 By Ben Wilson Faber & Faber, 510pp. £25