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When we say “Victorian Britain”, we’re referring, loosely, to the period that fell between Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837-1901. This was an era of massive societal upheaval -- the effects of the Industrial Revolution, the growth of the British Empire, the rise of scientific theories, and the advent of secularism are just a few topics that mixed things up in Victorian Britain. This book list deals with things at "home" in Britain, and things abroad in the Empire. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Empire ruled over almost 25% of the world’s population.<ref>Brendon, Piers. The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.</ref> No small feat. As the saying went: “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”<ref>This phrase was commonly published in multiple newspapers, magazines, and even children's encyclopedias.</ref>
1. [https://www.amazon.com/Pax-Britannica-Trilogy-Farewell-Trumpets/dp/B0000COIG4 Jan Morris: ''The Pax Britannica Trilogy''].
This series is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and readable histories of the progress and fall of the British Empire. It reads almost like a novel as Morris encapsulates her reader with the sights, sounds, and smells of the Empire. The series is divided into three books, in the following order:
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2. [https://www.amazon.com/London-Labour-Poor-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140432418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508823670&sr=1-1&keywords=mayhew+london+labour Henry Mayhew: ''London Labour and the London Poor''] – This four volume work by social theorist Henry Mayhew is full of rich and , accurate accounts of what life was like for the "down and out" (the poor and working classes) in Victorian London. Mayhew interviewed everyone from small shop owners , to prostitutes , to pure-finders (those who collected dog poop for money). This groundbreaking look into the life of London's poorest was, and remains, one of the most important works on working-class culture ever published. Mayhew's work has also been annotated by Penguin Classics into a 512-page book as well.
3. [https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Science-Context-Bernard-Lightman/dp/0226481123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508823720&sr=8-1&keywords=victorian+science+in+context Bernard Lightman: ''Victorian Science in Context''] – Science was an extremely important part of life in Victorian England. New scientific discoveries were being made almost daily, and due to fewer taxes on publishingfor the first time, newspapers were affordable to almost everyone, so scientific knowledge spread like wildfire among all classes. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was published right in the middle of the Victorian era, in 1859.
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4. [https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Map-Londons-Terrifying-Epidemic/dp/1594482691/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508823751&sr=1-1&keywords=Steven+Johnson%3A+%27%27The+Ghost+Map%3A+The+Story+of+London%E2%80%99s+Most+Terrifying+Epidemic Steven Johnson: ''The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic]'' – This book is a super fun, quick read on nineteenth-century medical history that examines a particular outbreak of cholera in London in 1854and a doctor named John Snow who helped put an end to it. Johnson's work explains how theories of contagion evolved from blaming sickness on "bad air" (miasma), to blaming sickness on bacteria due that arose from unsanitary conditions. Dr. John Snow's findings changed the nature of epidemiology forever -- one cannot overemphasize the importance of this study.
5. [https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Victorian-England-Sally-Mitchell/dp/0313294674/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508823783&sr=1-1&keywords=sally+Mitchell%3A+%27%27Daily+Life+in+Victorian+England%27 Sally Mitchell: ''Daily Life in Victorian England''] – This book is a quick primer on social history in Victorian England. It deals mostly with the rise of the middle class, which is a very important part of nineteenth-century history. Great for a quick overview of Victorian social history.
6. [https://www.amazon.com/Darkened-Room-Spiritualism-Victorian-England/dp/0226642054/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508823810&sr=1-1&keywords=Alex+Owen%3A+%27%27The+Darkened+Room%3A+Women%2C+Power+and+Spiritualism+in+Late+Victorian+England Alex Owen: ''The Darkened Room: Women, Power and Spiritualism in Late Victorian England]'' – While this book deals with a specific subject matter, it is a wonderful introduction to the little-explored life of women during the Victorian period. In zeroing in on spiritualism as a mechanism by which women subverted traditional gender relations, Owen also examines the role of gender during this era in a more general sense. With the advent of science, Victorians became obsessed with explaining the unexplainable, and Owen does a magnificent job of explaining the place of such pseudoscience during this period.
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