MC professor’s first book
gets friendly reviews

By Brittany Koritz
Courier Staff

In the past 18 months, Monmouth College history professor Simon Cordery has received positive reviews of his first book, “British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914.”

Published in 2003, Cordery had been performing research frequently between 1984 and 2001, with his primary sources taken from records of societies, newspapers and government documents.

Cordery stated, “The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and I'm happy with the reception”.

The subject matter of “British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914” concerns the working men's insurance, how they contributed to British politics and the creation of industrialized society.

To quote from a book review from the Journal of British Studies in July 2005: “In light of Cordery's contribution, no deception of the nineteenth-century working-class experience can now be considered complete without prominent inclusion of these institutions in the discussion.”

Regarding Cordery's inspiration to write this book he said, “There was only one other book written on the friendly societies, and I thought that there should be more.”

In addition, the book took about one year to write and Cordery plans to write another book in the future on his doctoral dissertation.

“British Friendly Societies, 1750-1914” is published by Palgrave-McMillan and is available for purchase through amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.