Introduction

Abstract

When W. T. Stead died on the Titanic he was the most famous Englishman on board. A mass of contradictions and a crucial figure in the history of the British press, Stead was a towering presence in the cultural life of late-Victorian and Edwardian society. In this introduction, we consider Stead as a ‘mass of contradictions’ and offer a few ways in which his prodigious output and activity might be understood.

Keywords

• spiritualism
• gender
• media
• journalism
• communication
• politics