# A Gossipy Interlude: George Eliot, Herbert Spencer, and John Chapman, Part 2

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/podcasts/excursions/a-gossipy-interlude-george-eliot-herbert-spencer-and-john-chapman-part-2>

**By** George H. Smith

**Published:** May 11, 2016

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George H. Smith criticizes an influential book by Mark Francis, Herbert Spencer and the Invention of Modern Life.

[Originally published in essay form on September 10, 2013.](https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/excursions/gossipy-interlude-george-eliot-herbert-spencer-john-chapman-part-2)

_Narrated by Daniel Hyland._