Books by Robert (University of Liverpool) Woods

This glorification of nature, in general incorporates themes of Darwinian evolution through natural selection, extending to investigation of the origin of life from elements made in the stars, to contemplation of consciousness, self-awareness, laws of nature (physics) and probabilities of exact duplication of life-forms (including man) over stretches of time and planetary realms (our punctuated immortality). Overall, there is celebration of the gift of life through each incarnation of birth, death and rebirth in view of science and thoughts of spirituality. The subsuming principle throughout is "love," from its haven in the light of dreams to magnanimous configurations that sustain the ethos of humanity.And life's summation can be visualized in the dream-light from the poem "Rainbow;"The wave of color binds our sentiments before it fades.For each emotion, is a subtlety in hue expressed,And through life's noble journey, may we add these tints and shadesTo vivid cast a rainbow in prismatic lightbeams blessed.Ephemeral are the tones of life bestowed on halcyon skies,When heralded by the rainbow arched above its golden eyes.Or from dreams in the creation of legacy and, ultimately, a consummation of the human species. How privileged we are with self-awareness,To momentary glean the cosmic splendorAs part of visions, doubts and thoughts of fairness,Of how the human species may engenderA code of ethics, and historic renderOur consummation--carbon based, which castUnto the void of time and space, would tenderEthos and quintessence of our pastAnd future legacies, should dreams survive steadfast. --from "Enlightenment of Mankind"

The Demography of Victorian England and Wales uses the full range of nineteenth-century civil registration material to describe in detail for the first time the changing population history of England and Wales between 1837 and 1914. Its principal focus is the great demographic revolution which occurred during those years, especially the secular decline of fertility and the origins of the modern rise in life expectancy. But Robert Woods also considers the variable quality of the Victorian registration system; the changing role of what Robert Malthus termed the preventive check; variations in occupational mortality and the development of the twentieth-century class mortality gradient; and the effects of urbanisation associated with the significance of distinctive disease environments. The volume also illustrates the fundamental importance of geographical variations between urban and rural areas. This invaluable reference tool is lavishly illustrated with numerous tables, figures and maps, many of which are reproduced in full colour.

This book provides a clear interpretation of the causes of demographic change in Britain in the nineteenth century. It combines an examination of migration, marriage patterns, fertility and mortality with a guide to the sources of population data available to historians and demographers.