Culture and Society, 1780-1950

""The earliest ideas on culture, Mr. Williams claims, developed in opposition to the laissez-faire society of the political economists. As the ideas on culture took shape, on the one hand, they became identified with a 'whole way of life.' On the other hand . . . culture became a court of appeals where real values could be determined. Culture, thus separated from the whole society, was associated with the idea of perfection through the study of the arts . . . Mr. Williams contrasts the ideas of ' culture as art' and 'culture as a whole way of life,' and commends the latter . . . the book should definitely be read by all those interested in English intellectual history." —M. S. Wilkins, Political Science Quarterly (pub. website).