The Fatal Gaze of This Moral Basilisk”
The Salvation Army’s War on Drink in Victorian Britain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12970524 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Steven Spencer (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 230-256 |
| Publication date | 2019-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Social History of Alcohol Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0887-2783 • E-ISSN: 2640-7329 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/705343 |
| OpenAlex | W2973699846 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
The Salvation Army has been an advocate of temperance since it was founded in 1865 and has been committed to total abstinence from intoxicating liquor since 1877. In the 1890s it was described as “a universal Anti-Drink Army.” However, it has been largely absent from most histories of the temperance movement in Britain. This article analyzes the historical development of The Salvation Army’s commitment to total abstinence, which grew out of the beliefs of its founders, William and Catherine Booth. Drawing on the Booths’ correspondence from the 1850s, the article will explore their differing stances on alcohol and will examine how Catherine’s views in particular came to be adopted by The Salvation Army, marked by a condemnation of moderate drinkers, fierce attacks on the drink trade, and a commitment to teetotalism as an essential part of Christian belief. The commitment to total abstinence led The Salvation Army to purchase several public houses for use as “temperance hotels” and to manufacture an alcohol-free “Booth’s Beer.” The article will look at these and other fronts opened by The Salvation Army in their “war on drink.”
Abstinence · Criminology · Political science · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · American History and Culture · Decadence, Literature, and Society · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |