‘WITH GOD ON THEIR SIDE’:
William Booth, the Salvation Army and the
Skeleton Army Riots
By James Gardner
Lutterworth Press. 267 pages. £70 (hardback,
paperback due in September 2022 - £20)
ISBN 978 0 718 895 914
Opposition to Christian faith is nothing new. James Gardner, a local historian of the south coast of England, carefully documents the organised opposition to the work of the Salvation Army by ‘the Skeleton Army’ in towns and cities in the south and west of England in the last two decades of the 19th century.
The account of this ‘forgotten history’ is rich in details of who did what, when, and the results in terms of court cases and sentences of prison or fines. It is of particular note that towns and cities where this opposition was significant are where there are now significant evangelical Christian congregations, for example, Exeter, Basingstoke, and Eastbourne. Churches in those communities will be interested to know of the efforts of and opposition to the Salvation Army almost a century and a half ago.
