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THE VICTORIANS by Sir Charles Petric

THE VICTORIANS

By

Pub Date: Sept. 21st, 1961
Publisher: Longmans, Green

A survey of an age is objective in retrospect and takes the trouble to present the people and the times as they were and not as the image is held by posterity. That the Victorians were not absolutely drab and dull, that there was a social revolution within the era, that between the beginning and the end of period there were changes in conditions of all areas -- this is argued in background sections, on the monarchy, the pre-eminent seaport of Liverpool, Ireland and Scotland, and in specific sections on Victorian leisure, women, religion and the services, Navy, Army, diplomatic and civil. Here, with assists from contemporary authors and papers, are examples of Victorianism's dynamic society; the transitions in domestic as well as public life; the emancipation, its abuse and reform experienced by sheltered women; the changing habits of drinking and the growing popularity of smoking, sports and racing; the shift of focus in political and national issues; the development of the middle class. This close examination of a generation's life, grave and gay, is a worthy source and reference book for the serious student of this age.