Generation of Materialism, 1871–1900

To a generation that has experienced two great World Wars, the closing quarter of the Nineteenth Century is bound, in retrospect, to appear in the light of a golden age. It was an era of peace in Europe, an age of great technological advance, a period of progress, of growing tolerance, of spreading liberalism. Or so at least it seemed at the time and so it appears to many even now. And yet, when viewed historically, when examined critically, the late nineteenth century emerges rather as an age of materialism, of smug self-confidence, of uncritical assurance. It was, as Professor Hayes sets forth, in many senses the seed-time of disaster, the prelude to an era of conflict and disillusionment. […]In A Generation of Materialism, 1871–1900, Professor Hayes has gotten down to fundamentals. He has stripped away many of the easy misconceptions and has re-examined some of the basic assumptions and tenets of the modern world. If history is indeed but the prologue, no intelligent person can afford, amid the storm and stress of the contemporary world, to overlook this fascinating and stimulating reappraisal of the generation that bore our own. (William L. Langer, Introduction)&quote;THE IMPARTIALITY and fair-mindedness which the historian must set as his goal are severely tested in writing about a period so near to us as this. Professor Hayes passes the test admirably. He has, of course, feelings that are engaged, and these he very straightforwardly makes clear in his preface…he has packed into a single volume an immense amount of information and good sense.&quote;-CRANE BRINTON&quote;A brilliant, illuminating account of an epoch which is considered as a climax of enlightenment and a source of disillusionment. A reappraisal that must be read.&quote;-Social Studies&quote;This stimulating volume is 'living history,' written by a man who has keenly observed and sincerely interpreted his age.&quote;-FRANKLIN C. PALM, The American Historical Review