Dickens's England: Life in Victorian Times

by R.E. Pritchard

Book by R.E. PRITCHARD

Genres: History, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 2002

Reviews

[Melissa McShane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This approach to the history of Victorian England is unusual; the subject is divided into sections such as "Ladies, Gentlemen, and Others" and "The Labouring Nation," but after the author introduces the topic and gives a summary of it, he turns to primary sources to illustrate. Excerpts from Dickens' writing, as well as from other authors, reformers, essayists and politicians, bring the culture of the time to life. The structure means it's not quite so good as reference material, but in itself it's enjoyable reading.

[Michael Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone in search of a coherent, cohesive social history of 19th century Britain, this volume is a considerable disappointment. Pritchard, a lecturer in literature, has brought together a large number of very brief excerpts from a very wide variety of publications from the 1830s through about the 1870s. (The last twenty years of Victoria’s reign were increasingly different from the first forty years, as even observers at the time recognized.) These are grouped in only the most general way under eight broad topics, including ladies and gentlemen, education and religion, the working class, country life, and so on. Within each chapter, the reader is likely to find an except from one of Dickens’s novels, followed by an article from a newspaper, followed by a paragraph or two by Hippolyte Taine (the noted French traveler and commentator), followed by an excerpt from Hardy or Trollope, followed by a comment by Henry Mayhew, followed by a selection from a Church of England sermon by someone I’ve never heard of. And this odds-and-sods approach continues throughout the book. There is no contextual commentary to tell you why it’s useful to read any of this. There are no observations made or conclusions drawn. Illustrations are scattered throughout but it’s not always obvious how they relate to the subject apparently under discussion. The index includes only authors quoted and the titles of their works -- no subject headings. And the two-page “Further Reading” list includes only modern secondary sources (and omits many of the best of them). There are much better works than this on the market on the subject of “Victorian life.”

[Carolyn Di Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is filled with various excerpts from books of the time, from approximately 1812 - 1880 or thereabouts. I love getting my history direct from the source!