From the Foreword: 'FEW words are needed to introduce this book. The five lectures, entitled 'The Immediate Future', were delivered in the large Queen's Hall, London, on June 11, 18, 25, and July 2, 9, to audiences which packed every part of the building, from which hundreds were turned away. Of the public interest in the subject no doubt was possible; and the lectures reached another great audience by their weekly appearance in The Christian Commonwealth, to which I tender my hearty thanks for the admirable reports herein reproduced. The sixth lecture was given in the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, at the closing meeting of the Spring Assembly of the League of Liberal Christian Thought, and was presided over by the Rev. R. J. Campbell. The seventh was delivered to the Fabian Society, in the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, and was presided over by Mrs. Sidney Webb.'
