Penelope Ismay (2019), Trust Among Strangers: Friendly Societies in Modern Britain, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, £22.99, pp. 228, pbk.

Abstract

During the spring and summer of 2020, several observers highlighted the importance of the role played by mutual aid in helping individuals and communities to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic and its consequences in different parts of the UK Volunteer Scotland estimated that approximately 220 mutual aid groups were formed in Scotland during the early stages of the pandemic, while Rebecca Solnit, writing in The Guardian newspaper, argued that the ‘rise of mutual aid’ reflected a ‘spirit of generosity that will help guide us out of this crisis and into a better future’ Ismay highlights the importance of the distinction between savings banks, which offered an individualistic version of self-help, and friendly societies, in which members helped themselves by helping others