With God on their Side

The Salvation
Army is nowadays viewed with fondness, but William Booth's evangelical crusade
of the 1880s and early 1890s sparked violent riots led by an opposition group,
the Skeleton Army. These riots caused destruction to property, injury to many
people and, on occasion, loss of life. Spreading across the South and West of
England, the Skeleton Army's aim was to eject Salvationists from their towns.
Rather than facing repercussions themselves, however, it was often the peaceful
parading Salvationists who were imprisoned.



In With God
on Their Side, James Gardner follows the spread of violence in the context
of the popular conservatism of late-Victorian England, with close study of
particular towns creating a rich tapestry of historical narrative that will be
of interest to scholars and enthusiasts alike. The motives and actions of both
groups are considered, along with the subsequent shift in the Salvation Army's
focus towards social welfare. It is this shift that enabled the organisation to
grow into the treasured charity we know today, and helped transform William
Booth from one of the most vilified men of the nineteenth century into its
saint.