The Improvers - by Dehn Gilmore (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A riveting generational saga of a remarkable family that embodied the cultural and intellectual aspirations of late-Victorian Britain

From 1870 to 1930, the scientist Arthur Schuster and his siblings, lawyer Ernest, banker Felix, and philanthropist Paula, were among the most prominent figures in Britain. Born German and Jewish, just two generations removed from the Frankfurt ghetto, they built a dazzling network of friends and collaborators that included H. G. Wells, Marie Stopes, Octavia Hill, Chaim Weizmann, Ernest Rutherford, and Lionel de Rothschild and they worked alongside them to change their times. The Improvers is a richly detailed portrait of four extraordinary individuals and the transformational age in which they lived.

Drawing on a newly discovered archive of privately held diaries, letters, and photographs, Dehn Gilmore chronicles the Schuster family's early struggles to assimilate into British society, their personal and professional triumphs, and their changing fortunes during and after the First World War. She describes their many accomplishments, from advancing women's rights and building large tracts of public housing, to coining the term "anti-matter," chasing eclipses around the world, dictating national financial policy, and promoting religious free-thinking. She shows, too, how the Schuster siblings embodied the values and principles of late-Victorian liberal thought.

Beautifully written, The Improvers is an engaging, multifaceted account of a family that rose from humble beginnings to scale the heights of England's intellectual, political, and economic life, and whose hopes and disappointments mirrored those of the era they helped define.

About the Author