The early Quakers denounced the clergy and social elite but how did that affect Friends' relationships with others? Drawing upon the insights of sociologists and anthropologists, this lively and original study sets out to discover the social consequences of religious belief. Why did the sect appoint its own midwives to attend Quaker women during confinement?
Was animosity to Quakerism so great that Friends were excluded from involvement in parish life? And to what extent were the remarkably high literacy rates of Quakers attributable to the Quaker faith or wider social forces? Using a wide range of primary source material, this study demonstrates that Quakers were not the marginal and isolated people which contemporaries and historians often portrayed.
Indeed the sect had a profound impact not only upon members but more widely by encouraging a greater tolerance of diversity in early modern society. Review: Not the least service of Adrian Davies's book, The Quakers in English Society, 1655-1725, is to underscore just how cussed and troublesome, how alien and alienated, the early Quakers were.
The Historical Journal Though the book derives from a doctoral thesis, it could readily be handed to an undergraduate as a key survey of the early Quakers, what they stood for, and why they were reviled. The Historical Journal A polished and convincing study that produces a new chronology for Quaker history in the period ... a fruitful discussion of sectarian change.
Journal of Religious History This book represents a significant contribution to Quaker studies, since, for the first time, it offers a focused account of the willingness of the Friends to integrate themselves into civil society and its institutions ... The thematic organization, with chronological change examined within themes, is highly effective ...
It resolves some long-standing puzzles in Quaker studies as well as posing some new challenges. John Morrill, Times Literary Supplement It is a fine work, based on extensive research, and informed by clear questions relating to English social history after the mid-seventeenth century; practically every one of its short chapters-many run less than 10 pages, one shorts out at 6-sparkles with conclusive insights that bear remembering and continued reflection.
Larry Ingle, Quaker History Deeply-researched, pleasingly written. English Historical Review Adrian Davies has written an excellent local study on Quakerism. The research is impeccable, and early modern historians will have constant recourse to it for insights into the transition of a sect into a denomination ...
Davies makes a balanced and valuable contribution to the debate on the social origins of Quakerism ... it is a book to which historians will constantly return for answers. Journal of Ecclesiastical History
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