Ellens is the first historian to tackle a comprehensive history of the church rates question, and he carries it off in a superlative fashion. The church rates issue was the great Dissenting issue during the period, and Ellens reveals with insight and admirable clarity the intricacies of the changing relationships as the Liberal party''s support waxed and waned. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the history of Victorian Britain.-R. W. Davis, Washington UniversityThis book, covering the period 1832 to 1868, describes how the so-called "church rates" controversy contributed to the rise of a secular liberal state in England and Wales. The church rate was an ancient tax required of all ratepayers, regardless of denomination, for the upkeep of parish churches of the Church of England. This meant that Dissenters and other non-Anglicans paid for the support of the established Church. In the 1830s, however, the Dissenters determined to tolerate the situation no longer.
