Publisher's Synopsis
This book attempts to define the place of charity in British society from Victorian to present times, and shows that under Mrs Thatcher's campaign to bring Victorian values back to the issue of charity, the issue has come full circle. The author argues that the Tory concept of active citizenship is in fact about bringing back "Lady Bountiful" while disenfranchising the poor, the old, the sick and the handicapped and threatening loss of status and government funding to those charities which campaign too vigorously on behalf of their beneficiaries.
