[ News
| Homes
| Life
| Entertainment
| History
| Science
| Community
| Shop ]
| Sport
| Culture
| Cars
| Money
| Broadband
| Learning
| Health
| Dating
| Games ]
[ Text Only: Homepage ]
[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
General
1900 House by Mark McCrum and Mathew Sturgis
(Channel 4 Books, 2000) £10.99.
Accompanies Channel 4's programme that reveals just how radically life has been transformed by a century of science and technology. This 'living experiment' transports a family back to 1900 to live for three months as Victorians.
Aristocratic Women and Political Society in Victorian Britain
by K D Reynolds
(Oxford University Press, 1998) £35.
Study of gender and power in Victorian Britain. It examines the contribution made by women to the public culture of the British aristocracy in the 19th century, challenging the view that power and authority were predominantly masculine attributes and showing that a partnership of authority between men and women was integral to aristocratic life.
As We Were: A Victorian Peepshow by B F Benson
(Penguin, 2001) £4.99.
The son of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Benson was well placed to observe the thoughts, words and deeds of the late Victorians. This anecdotal book offers sly observations on Prince Albert and Queen Victoria among others.
City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of sexual danger in Late-Victorian London by Judith Walkowitz
(Virago Press, 1992) £12.99.
A study of late-Victorian London life: the pleasures of the music hall; spectator sports; the mingling of high and low life; sexual repression; scandal and the policing of women.
Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey
(Penguin Books, 1989) £7.99.
Seminal work written in 1921 which cracks open the old myths of high victorianism and addresses chauvinism, hypocrisy and the stiff upper lip.
Hell and the Victorians by Geoffrey Rowell
(Oxford University Press, 1974) Hardback only £35.
A study of debates at a time when the idea of eternal punishment was under question, and English Christianity was affected by the Anglican movement of Evangelicalism and the controversy over Darwinism.
Prostitution by Paula Bartley
(UCL Press, 2000) £12.95.
Analyses attempts to eradicate prostitution from English society. Includes a discussion ranging from early attempts at reform and prevention to the campaigns of the social purists, which tried to educate society morally and campaigned for protective legislation for prostitutes.
Sex Politics and Society: The regulation of sexuality since 1800
by Jeffrey Weeks
(Longman Group, 1989) £17.99.
A study of the regulation of sexuality in Britain since 1800, examining changes in ideas, the law, sexual morality, the family, birth control and sexual practice.
The English Vice: Beating, sex and shame in Victorian England and after by Ian Gibson
(Duckworth, 1979) £16.95.
An insight into the murkier side of the Victorians with research taken from the correspondence columns in the periodicals of Victorian England - sub-pornographic letters which appeared in the genteel women's magazines.
The Fabrication of the Late Victorian Femme Fatale by Rebecca Stott
(Palgrave, 1996) £17.99.
Examines the rise of the femme fatale as a prominent fictional type in late 19th century British culture.
The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin
(Penguin Books, 1991) £9.99.
Lays bare a literary mystery, the true story of the secret 13-year relationship between Charles Dickens and the young actress Ellen Ternan.
The Making of Victorian Sexuality by Michael Mason
(Oxford University Press, 1995) £10.99.
Argues the case that Victorian sexual moralism was a code intelligently embraced by wealthy and poor alike as part of a human and progressive vision of society's future.
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
(Penguin, 1979) £2.99.
Eliot recreates her own childhood through the story of frustrated intelligence and longing.
Those of Us Who Loved Her by Kathleen Adams
(G Eliot Fellowship, 1993) £6.50.
The story of the men in George Eliot's life.
Biographical
John Brown: Queen Victoria's Highland servant by Raymond Lamont-Brown
(Sutton Publishing, 2000) £19.99.
Story of the extraordinary relationship between the Highland servant and Queen Victoria. Following her husband's death in1861 she found solace in Brown. Their friendship became a source of rumour and scandal and he was soon to become the most influential member of the Scottish Royal Household.
Queen Victoria by Elizabeth Longford
(Sutton Publishing, 1999) £5.99.
Gives a full account of her life, her marriage to Prince Albert and her grief after his death.
Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey
(Penguin Books, 2000) £4.99.
Considered to be a revolution in the art of biography, Strachey uses elements of romantic fiction and melodrama to create a warm, humorous and very human portrait of an iconic figure.
Uncrowned King: The life of Prince Albert by Stanley Weintraub
(John Murray, 1998) £15.99.
A man of great intelligence, pride, and ambition, Albert was forced to move behind the scenes, playing major roles in running the Crimean War and working to keep Britain out of the Civil War being waged in the United States. While his wife adored him, his adopted people scorned him for his German accent, his foreign ways, and his covert activities as a surrogate ruler.
Young Victoria by Alison Plowden
(Sutton Publishing, 2000) £8.99.
Born in 1819, Victoria was left fatherless at the age of eight months. brought up by her German mother in an atmosphere of family feuds and jealousy, her early years were difficult. Succeeding to the throne at 18, however, she began a triumphant reign.
The Empire
A Passage to India by E M Forster
(Penguin, 2000) £6.99.
After a mysterious accident during their visit to the caves, Dr Assiz is accused of assaulting Adela Quested, a naive young Englishwoman. As he is brought to trial, the fragile structure of Anglo-Indian relations collapses and the racism inherent in colonialism is exposed in all its ugliness.
Eminent Victorian Soldiers: Seekers of glory by Byron Farwell
(W W Norton & Co, 1988) £9.85.
Profiles eight Victorian military officers, who helped create the British Empire and whose lives reflect the age.
Mr Kipling's Army: All the Queen's men by Byron Farwell
(W W Norton & Co, 1988) £8.45.
This is an upstairs-downstairs view of the Victorian-Edwardian army, one of the world's most peculiar fighting forces. The battles are household words, but the idiosyncracies and eccentricities of its soldiers and their often appalling living conditions are largely unrecorded.
Queen Victoria's Commanders by Michael Barthorp and Douglas N Anderson
(Osprey Publishing, 2000) £9.99.
Details some of the conflicts of the British Empire during the reign of Queen Victoria including campaign outlines for India 1837-56 and discusses the major commanders or military personnel of note in each period.
The Compassionate Memsahibs by Mary Ann Lind
(Greenwood Publishing, 1988) hardback only, £46.50.
Refutes the traditional view of the memsahibs as a homogeneous group of aloof, pampered women who had little interest in India and presents previously unpublished information about women who voluntarily participated in reform and welfare activities in India during the first half of the 20th century.
The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott
(Arrow, 1996) £7.99.
Imperial fortunes are at a low ebb in wartime India. Defeated in Malaya and Burma, and facing Japanese invasion, the British are also opposed by the Indian people. Against this background of two nations in violent opposition, the rape of an English girl is a prelude to riots, strikes and uprisings.
The Sepoy and the Raj: the Indian Army 1860-1940 by David Omissi
(Palgrave, 1998) £18.99.
A study of the Indian army that conquered India for the British and protected the Raj against its enemies, examining the origins, motives and protests of the several million Indian peasant soldiers who served the colonial power.
Out of Print
(may be found in libraries, specialist book stores or online)
The Case of Eliza Armstrong: a Child of 13 bought for £5 by Alison Plowden
(BBC Books, 1974).
Saint or Sensationalist?: The story of W.T. Stead 1849-1912
by Victor Pierce Jones
(Gooday, 1988).
Poverty and Prostitution: A study of Victorian prostitutes in York by Frances Finnegan
(Cambridge University Press, 1979).
Lament for Lady Flora by Eva McDonald
(Robert Hale, 1974).
Based on the life of Lady Flora Hastings.
The Worm in the Bud: A study of victorian sexuality by Ronald Pearsall
(Pimlico, 1993).
A Letter to the Queen on Lord Chancellor Cranworth's Marriage and Divorce Bill (1855)
www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/norton/letter.html
Taken from the Victorian Women Writers Project, this contains a transcript of the original letter written by Caroline Norton in 1855.
Birth
Control
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wbirth.htm
The long story of the campaign for women to be able to control their fertility.
Charles Dickens' Journalistic Career
www.lib.tjfsu.edu.cn/ymwx/about%20author/Charles%20Dickens's%20Journalistic%20Career.htm
Outlines Dickens' career as a journalist, as well as an author and focuses on his interest in reforms.
Images of the Black Victorians
www.mckenziehpa.com/bv/index_t.html
A fascinating Channel 4 site about a hidden group in Victorian Britain.
Josephine Butler
elvis.rowan.edu/~kilroy/JEK/12/30.html
Contains some biographical information on Josephine Butler, a pioneer worker among women.
Legal milestones for women 1832-1928
members.tripod.co.uk/HastingsHistory/19/legal.htm
An overview of Bills and Acts related to women's legal status.
Pall Mall Gazette and William Stead
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jpall.htm
Information about the life of Stead and the infamous 'Maiden Tribute' articles that led to his incarceration.
The Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885
and Sexual Assault on Minors
www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/7023/Consent.html
A detailed account of William Stead and his 'Maiden Tribute' articles, generally credited with hastening the passage of the Criminal Justice Amendment Act.
The George Eliot Fellowship
lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/Eliot.html
Online access to the life and works of George Eliot, with mailing lists and links.
The Law Report
www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/
8.30/lawrpt/lstories/lr020103.htm
ABC Radio National transcript of a programme about marriage law and bigamy, with a description of the role of Mr Justice Maule in arguing for a change in the law which culminated in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857.
The Spartacus Encyclopaedia -
The emancipation of women: 1750-1920
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/resource.htm
Contains a comprehensive biographical list including Annie Besant, Barbara Bodichon, Josephine Butler, Caroline Norton, Elizabeth Fry and other outstanding Victorian women.
The Victorian Web
www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/victov.html
Comprehensive website exploring literature, history and culture in the age of Queen Victoria. Contains excellent information on suffrage, legislation and marriage.
The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot: Quotes from her works
www.geonius.com/eliot
Contains reviews of her novels and biographies.
Women's Legal position in Regency times
(Married Women's Property Act)
homepages.ihug.co.nz/~awoodley/
regency/legalwomen.html
Women had no rights to property until the Married Women's Property Act 1884.
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
www.thecore.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/
gender/wojtczak/bodichon.html
The life history of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon (182791), one of the foremost founders of the women's rights movement in Britain.
Access advice
For web users with disabilities.
Graphic version
Includes layout and images.