Deals with the Thatcher-induced discussion of `Victorian values'

British antislavery is an area of quite sharp historical debate

Fresh angle of approach rather than operating within the terms of the debate so far - first study of antislavery to focus on culture of reform in an extended way and related to class

Community studies integrated into a general argument about anti-slavery

Unusual in that it argues for significant limits to antislavery liberalism and concludes that its importance to 19th century development may have been overestimated