Images of race

This volume brings together eleven articles illustrative of debate upon race
during the period from the first repercussions of the Darwinian revolution
to the eve of the 'scramble for Africa'.
In addition to presenting brief notes on each individual article, the editor
provides a wide-ranging introductory essay which explores the significance
of themes that recur throughout the collection at large. He highlights the
bearing that such material has on a whole series of scientific, religious, and
political issues which were of vital concern to Victorians. Not least, the
Introduction elucidates the way in which racial categories were used to dis-
tinguish both between stocks of different colour and between white men
themselves. Thus the collection helps us to see how, for instance, not only
the Jamaican Negro but also the Irish Celt was likely to become a victim of
the cult of Anglo-Saxon destiny.