In 1856 at St. George's Church in East London, there were riots against the 'popish' innovations of vestments, candles on the altar, and incense. In Madrid, during the cholera epidemic of 1834, Jesuits and monks were rumoured to have poisoned the springs. In the Ruhr in the 1880s Catholic workers defied the dominant Protestants by singing 'I am a Catholic' to the tune of 'I am a Prussian'.

Following 1789, throughout western Europe, the official clergy, champions of privilege and tradition, were challenged by religious dissenters and minorities. Chapel confronted church in Britain and Scandinavia; Catholics struggled against Protestants in Germany and Ireland. The war between anti- clerical and Catholic in France and Spain reached its climax in the Spanish Bloodbath of the 1930s.

Dr. McLeod clearly maps out these polarisations and analyses the impact on religion of socialism, capitalism and the growth of cities. He looks at the contrast between the religion of the middle and working classes and between men and women. He discusses the appeal of movements like Methodism, Secularism, and Ultramontane Catholicism, and finally considers the crisis faced by the churches in many countries in the 1960s