Behind an elegant frontage, England in the early eighteenth century was in a sorry state. There were echoes of our own age at every turn. Politics was corrupt, the democratic system broken. There had been a huge Stock Market crash. Many were trapped in addiction and despair. What had once been trusted institutions had no solution to offer. Then something remarkable happened. A thirty-five-year-old man called John Wesley started travelling the country. Wherever he went, he preached in the open air, telling people that there was a God who loved them and wanted better for their lives. Despite often violent opposition, crowds turned out, with many falling to their knees weeping and resolving to be born again into the Christian life. As individuals were transformed, so was a nation. Out of this religious revival grew the campaign to abolish the slave trade, a new impetus to the fight for worker rights and an emboldened commitment to a political voice for the common man.