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The Condition of the Working Class in England by Friedrich Engels edited by David McLellan (Oxford Paperbacks, 1999)
Engels' work on the plight of industrial workers in England in the 1840s is still considered the best study of the working class in Victorian England. This edition includes a map of Manchester c 1845.
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Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (Penguin Books, 1989)
Seminal work written in 1921 that explodes the myths of high Victorianism and addresses chauvinism, hypocrisy and the stiff upper lip. Strachey exposes the self-seeking ambitions of Cardinal Manning and the manipulative, neurotic Florence Nightingale. In his essays on Dr Arnold and General Gordon, his quarries are not only his subjects but also the public-school system and the whole structure of 19th-century liberal values.
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Heaven, Hell and the Victorians by Michael Wheeler (Cambridge University Press, 1994)
A wide-ranging, illustrated cultural history of 19th-century religious experience, belief and language in the face of death.
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The Industrialisation of Britain, 1780-1914 by Phil Chapple (Hodder Arnold, 1999)
Economic growth was of momentous importance in the 19th century, transforming Britain into the 'workshop of the world'. Synthesising much complex research into an accessible form, Chapple examines the nature of industrial growth in the railways, agriculture and overseas trade.
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Nineteenth-Century Britain by Jeremy Black and Donald M MacRaild (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)
Examines political structures, ideologies, wars and international relations, economic and social history, religion, culture and ethnicity. Britain, as opposed to England, is the focus of the book. The coverage is enhanced with supplementary background information on key personalities and pivotal events, and numerous illustrations.
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Nineteenth-Century Britain: A very short Introduction by Christopher Harvie and Colin Matthew (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Offers a sharp but subtle account of remarkable economic and social change and an even more remarkable political stability.
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Poverty and Poor Law Reform in 19th-century Britain, 1834-1914 by David Englander (Longman, 1998)
The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 was one of the most important pieces of social legislation ever enacted. The author explores the changing approaches to poverty over this period and assesses current debates on Victorian attitudes to the poor.
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The Victorians by A N Wilson (Arrow, 2003)
In this vivid portrait of Victorian Britain and Britons, Wilson anchors his narrative on Disraeli, Gladstone, Salisbury and Palmerston and warms to the critical commentary of the chief sages and seers of the era: Carlyle, Dickens and Manning.
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What the Victorians Did for Us by Adam Hart-Davis (Headline, 2002)
The Victorian era was a time of extraordinary prosperity and development. Britain was a world leader in steam engines, iron and steel production, cotton and woollen mills and international trade – an explosion of power and pride that was celebrated in the Great Exhibition of 1851. This is a celebration of Victorian achievements and a reflection of the fact that we still live in a Victorian world.
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