44613795

Review
Reviewed Work(s): Popular Conservatism in Imperial London 1868–1906 by Alex

Windscheffel
Review by: James R. Moore
Source: Urban History, Vol. 35, No. 3 (December 2008), pp. 510-512
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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510 Urban History
cities? If so, why? And in what sense is the statement that 'society became more
dependent on the horse' [in an unspecified part of the nineteenth century] true?
A selection of well-chosen photographs adds understanding and appeal, but it is
a shame that they are not reproduced on appropriate paper. The best image, of an
elaborate frame house being moved along an unidentified street (for the record it
is San Francisco in 1908 by Sumner W. Matteson), appears on the dust wrapper
only and will be discarded by most academic libraries before the book is shelved.
One more gripe for the publishers, though they are in crowded bad company. Is it
too much to ask for a consolidated bibliography of the kind without which a Ph.D.
dissertation would be referred?
Paul Laxton
University of Edinburgh
Alex Windscheffel, Popular Conservatism in Imperial London 1868-1906.

Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007. xii + 260pp. 11 tables. £50.00.
doi:10.1017/S0963926808005816
Historians examining the complex nature of London's local politics face an

unenviable task. By 1885 the city was a patchwork of constituencies, returning
59 MPs to Westminster. It was a socially and culturally diverse metropolis and its
rapid suburbanization has been seen, following the path-breaking work of Paul
Thompson, as a key factor explaining political change. The growth of Conservatism
and the eventual break-up of the Liberal coalition were, in this view, a result
of the division of the city into (relatively) socially homogeneous constituencies.
There is much in this debate to interest the urban historian. It raises fundamental
questions about the relationship between urban social geography, electoral systems
and political change and encourages reconsideration of the dynamics of British
suburbanization.
Alex Windscheffel's ambitious study examines the question from the perspective
of the Conservative party in London. This is a welcome change in that although
there has been much written about the 'decline' of the Liberal party or the
relative failure of Labour and Socialist parties, less attention has been given to the
Conservatives. This is odd in that the Conservative party's populist transformation
in the era of mass urban politics is clearly a significant factor in explaining
the tardiness of their opponents' electoral performance. In order to explain this
transformation Windscheffel delves deeply into the nature of local party activity,
the nature of electoral narratives and, for some constituencies at least, the social
geography of neighbourhoods and communities. Such a complex array of material
is not easy to organize and this is reflected in the book's rather complex structure.
The first section appears to focus on electoral languages and discourses. However,
this section also offers something of a chronological review of local politics
in London, the basic dynamics of civic Conservatism, redistribution debates,
broad electoral trends and the social composition of constituencies. The middle
section of the book is more tightly organized, focusing on issues of organization,
campaigning and candidates. This is followed by an interesting discussion of
municipal Conservatism, although here one might wish for more on Conservative
attitudes to 'the government of London' problem before the 1889 Act. Finally, there
is a valuable examination of the Conservative party's fortunes at the end of the
Reviews of books 511
period, the role of imperial affair
basis of support and finally the 'u
after 1900. Over all, Windscheffel o
convincing account of London Co
due weight to the language and c
to give it explanatory primacy. In
the culture of politics emerges fr
local conditions and social conflict
life is taken seriously and myths
exploded. There is also useful ana
party. Following Paul Readman, W
imperial issues and away from lo
Victorian period. There are also int
racial attitudes and hostility to im
of the career of Sir Mancherjee M
for Bethnal Green North East, wh
once regarded as one of the Liber
The critical reader may, however,
about processes of long-term cha
fundamental question is how muc
Conservative party were really t
1885 general election with that of
party nationally 'won' very narr
in London at the two elections is
slight long-term gain for the Libe
changes, but one is still left with
world financial capital mean that
'imperial' Conservative metropolis?
swings of electoral support saw v
is an interesting facet of London'
electoral transformation difficult.
the crucial period in which the Co
London politics - a period before
which the author focuses upon. It
London in the wider comparative c
this, it is sometimes difficult to k
London's experience as genuinely
of wider developments.
Despite these reservations, as a pol
provoking book. It will also raise m
in debates about the city as a pla
several recent publications to open
of the relationship between urba
nature of London as an imperial c
it easier to stimulate popular imp
London suburbanization conduc
Conservatism? Perhaps there is ul
typology of suburbs and their co
dynamics. How important was the
512 Urban History
influencing party fortunes? How functionally different was a working-class suburb
in West Ham to a working-class district of the 'old' East End? Today's political
parties use sophisticated demographic data and software to model the social and
cultural characteristics of streets, neighbourhoods, wards and constituencies. This
may be the next step in developing our understanding political change in London
and, indeed, other large cities.
James R. Moore
Institute of Historical Research
Eric Ross, Sufi City: Urban Design and Archetypes in Touba. Rochester:
University of Rochester Press, 2006. xv + 290pp. 56 plates. Bibliography.
£45.00/$75.00.
doi:10.1017 / S0963926808005828
Cities are organic and living entities, developing unique characteristics as a result of
the actions and ideologies of those who live within and outside of their boundaries.
Another publication in the burgeoning Rochester Series on African History and
the Diaspora, this work investigates the physical and metaphysical foundation
and organization of Touba (est. 1887), Senegal's second largest urban centre. In
Sufi City , Eric Ross paints a complex picture of an intricate relationship between
Suflsm - both as a philosophy and as a social action - and the dynamic urban
development that has resulted in the creation of a distinctly Sufi city. Designed,
constructed and administered by the Mourides, a Senegalese Sufi order, all aspects
of Touba's built space, according to Ross, reflect a combination of Islamic, Sufi and
West African ideologies and concepts. What makes Touba unique in urban terms is
that it serves as a holy city, the 'capital of the Mourides', and is officially designated
an 'autonomous rural community' by the Senegalese government, thus enhancing
its independence within the modern state. Ross' main goals in writing this book
are to show the influence of Sufism on the urban development of Touba and to
reveal to the reader the uniqueness of the city as a spiritual project that transcends
ideas of tradition and modernity.
Ross has more than 17 years of experience in the region. He holds a Master's
degree in Geography and a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, and has served as an assistant
professor of Geography at Al Akhawayn University (Ifrane, Morocco) since 1998.
He has conducted fieldwork in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, Mauritania and
Algeria, where he has done research on shrine towns in Senegal, cultural develop-
ment and religion in Moroccan cities, as well as trans-Saharan trade networks. His
wealth of experience and unique academic interests contribute to the organization
and analysis of this book, moving from Islamic studies in chapter 1, to cultural
geography in the second and third chapters and lastly returning to the organization
of Touba within Islamic and indigenous African beliefs in the final chapter.
The first chapter is a philosophical investigation of the archetype of tree within
Sufi phenomenology. The discussion of the cosmic tree - Tuba the tree of Paradise -
in terms of Sufi cosmology and the meaning of landscape reveals the metaphysical
underpinnings of the city and raises the idea that traditional spiritual views of
architecture and design in some Islamic and West African societies are not so
different from those that formed the foundations of Touba: 'Part of their purpose
was to reflect or express some part of a divine or cosmic reality. They were never

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Review

Reviewed Work(s): Popular Conservatism in Imperial London 1868–1906 by Alex

Alex Windscheffel, Popular Conservatism in Imperial London 1868-1906.

Historians examining the complex nature of London's local politics face an

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