It would be hard to imagine a more interdisciplinary enterprise than this study of Dartington Hall, particularly considering this study’s wide range of sources. Founded in 1926, Dartington was a spiritual center, a school, and a center for the arts. Its fascinating story has broader implications for religious thought, education, and many artistic activities, particularly the interplay between private and public ones. It still exists as the Dartington Trust but in a truncated form. In a sense, the rest of the world, England in this particular case, has caught up with it.
The great country house in Devon, famous for its Hall, was acquired by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst. She was an extremely wealthy American and he the son of a Yorkshire parson, deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore after having spent time in India. Her money made everything possible. Devon was a conservative county, but now the closest town, Totnes,...