First published in 1986. Independent Spirits is about the intellectual world of the humbly-born in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Britain, focussing on plebeian, or working- and lower middle-class spiritualists. This book is an important study which throws light on the idealism and search for knowledge that were so central in plebeian circles and in certain, very important parts of the labour movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This title will be of interest to students of history.

Abbreviations; Acknowledgements; 1. Germination 2. Owenism and the millennium 3. Nottingham and cabala 4. The problematic of imponderables 5. Plebians and others 6. Presence and problems of democratic epistemology 7. Healing 8. Bridging the great divide; Conclusion; Notes; Index