The University of Cambridge has been a federation of colleges for centuries; in the past hundred years it has also become a center of international fame in many disciplines, with numerous faculties and departments. Volume IV of A History of the University of Cambridge covers the years 1870-1990, and explores the fascinating labyrinth of the federation and the nature of this extraordinary academic growth; it also sketches the society of the University and its place in the world; the role of religion and learning; the entry of women; and the leading characters in the story--Henry Sidgwick, F. W. Maitland, Gowland Hopkins, Ernest Rutherford, and many others.

List of illustrations; Preface; Abbreviations; 1. Prologue; 2. The university and the colleges; 3. The second Royal Commission and university reform, 1872-1914; 4. Religion, 1870-1914; 5. Theology; 6. The natural sciences; 7. Classics, law and history; 8. The society; 9. Women, 1868-1948; 10. The Great War, 1914-19; 11. Sir Hugh Anderson, the Asquith Commission and its sequel; 12. The University Library; 13. The dons' religion in twentieth-century Cambridge; 14. Religion and learning: C. H. Dodd and David Knowles; 15. A diversity of disciplines; 16. The Second World War; 17. The university and the world, 1945-90: a cosmopolitan society; 18. The new colleges; 19. Epilogue; Appendix 1. Fellows and undergraduates of the men's colleges, 1869-1919; Appendix 2. Student numbers by college, 1990-1; Appendix 3. College incomes, c.1926; Appendix 4. A note on schools; Appendix 5. Profession and status of Cambridge students; Bibliographical references; Index.