The Victorians

DK Eyewitness Books

by Ann Kramer

Looks at the great events and achievements of the Victorian era. Photographs of inventions - clothes; architecture; household objects; and royal memeorabilia offer a view and history of daily life in Victorian Britain.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

45 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Ann Kramer was born and educated in London but left school as soon as possible to work and travel; much later, as a ‘mature’ student, she gained an honours degree in history from Sussex University.

Her first job in publishing was as an editorial researcher, checking scripts for BBC quiz programmes. Subsequently she went freelance and worked as an editor with various publishing companies, including Diagram Visual Information, Dorling Kindersley, where she was the senior editor for DK’s Children’s Illustrated Encyclopedia, and Gaia. Increasingly, however, she concentrated on writing. For many years she wrote illustrated non-fiction books for children and young people, but now writes mainly for adults.

Reviews

[Little Timmy]

Always a great enjoyable read when you pick up an Eyewitness book. Very recommended

[Sophie Crane]

Very easy and informative. A great breakdown of everything Victorian, rather than a cluster of words or chapters that are long and hard to remember.

[Hazeanni]

An overview of Victorian era & all things Victorians. It started in the year 1837 when Queen Victoria ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland and lasted until Her Majesty's demise in 1901.

This book was meant for quick reference with 2 pages dedicated to each chapter. The facts were kept simple with enough illustrations supplemented. I think that was quite enough for those not in the know to get glimpses and ideas of what this period consisted of. After all, not everybody is acquainted with the history of this nation at this particular junction of time.

Upon reading 2nd chapter Industrial Might, i couldn't help but thinking how the demand of coal as industrial raw materials also played a spillover role in British Empire expansion to my country. Batu Arang in Malaysia derived her name from coal found in abundance here and coal mining was one of the main economic activities for this area pre independence.

I realized a consistent pattern during this reading. With industrial revolution; new classes of prosperity emerged. New inventions made life easier. Meanwhile, labours suffered with pitiful issues of working conditions. Good decisions by governments alleviate suffering and undesirable aspects of it. In turn increase life quality. In this case I understood where the Labour Party came from. Also why co-op shop founded.

So, did I liked this book? Yes, I liked the presentations, some with the timelines; and the old Victorian products and pictures. The paper used is also of good quality.

Any new informations i found interesting?
1) Arts and Crafts by William Morris.
2) Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton.
3) The Imperial College of London and Victoria and Albert Museum built using profit from The Great Exhibition 1851. Must be a very interesting exhibition.

What i like best about Victorians? The literature. The very best period of British author. Also the art and craft.

Do my country has a Victoria namesake? Yes. Victorian Institution is the oldest secondary school in Kuala Lumpur built in 1887 to commomerate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

[Gabby]

Everything you need to know about the Victorians, accompanied with great pictures and artefacts for the children to look at and discuss.

[Indah Threez Lestari]

526 - 2020

[sarah]

obviously fun but weirdly patriotic and imperialist like shhhhhut up

[Ella]

A good informative book about the Victorians. The pages are split into sentences and short paragraphs which makes the information more accessible to children. A good research book with facts and questions at the end for children to test themselves on.