D. C. Somerville

First names are David Churchill.

1. Somerville, D. C. 1929, 1965 English Thought in the Nineteenth Century (New York: David McKay Company, Inc.)
   A classic short exposition. Sommerville was a relic himself of his former century and now he's so long ago that some of his views seem historical. But on the whole he sounds like he's got the right track (or is that tack). By the way he proves that decades were called sixties, seventies, etc. in the 19th century (p. 195).

   The book is one of those temper of the times books: a book trying to get into the mindset of period. Such books with bizarre titles such Darwin's Cockatoo have become an industry and a curse: especially as they've gotten monstrously big. But some are enlightening---and not just rehashes of better books. Somerville's book is a good and very early example. It's one of those books that stand repeated rereading. Somerville's modest and amusing and doesn't strain at new explosive revelations. He certainly misses a lot---not much on women or sex---but what he gives seems good. And he was close enough in time to the Victorians that he knew them from the inside.