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Victorian London

The Life of a City, 1840-1870

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Victorian London

By: Liza Picard
Narrated by: Anton Lesser
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About this listen

 Like her previous books, this book is the result of the author's passionate interest in the realities of everyday life, and the conditions in which most people lived, so often left out of history books.

This period of mid-Victorian London encompasses a huge range of subjects: Victoria's wedding and the place of the royals in popular esteem; how the very poor lived, the underworld, prostitution, crime, prisons and transportation; the public utilities, Bazalgette on sewers and road design, Chadwick on pollution and sanitation; private charities, Peabody, Burdett Coutts, and workhouses; new terraced housing and transport, trains, omnibuses, and the Underground; furniture and decor; families and the position of women; the prosperous middle classes and their new shops, e.g. Peter Jones, Harrods; entertaining and servants, food and drink; unlimited liability and bankruptcy; the rich, the marriage market, taxes and anti-semitism; the Empire, recruitment and press-gangs.

The period begins with the closing of the Fleet and Marshalsea prisons and ends with the first (steam-operated) Underground trains and the first Gilbert & Sullivan. All the splendours and horrors of Victorian life will be vividly recalled.

©2005 Liza Picard; (P)2005 Orion Publishing Group Ltd. Europe Great Britain Modern England Middle Ages

Critic reviews

"Reading her book is like gazing at one of those energetic, crowded canvanses by the Victorian painter William Powell Frith." ( Evening Standard)
All stars
Most relevant
This book really brings early Victorian London to life, and Anton Lesser's voice is so relaxing and easy to listen to. It's a pity the book has been abridged for the audio version, though. I would have liked to hear all of it, hence the four rather than five star rating.

Concise but evocative

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This is a wonderful supplement to any reading of Victorian fiction - here is the background. Though the book depends perhaps a little too much on one or two particular sources (hence four stars, not five), this is vivacious, informative, and fascinating. It is beautifully read - Anton Lesser imparts the most complex information is a way which makes it all easy to follow.

Puts Dickens in a very real context

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This book is full of fascinating information about how London was from its dark underbelly to its glittering court. It is especially good at appealing to all the senses through its use of choice images. The narrator's pace is excellent and his voice is very pleasant to listen to. I enjoyed learning about how ordinary men and women coped during this period of rampant industialization and growth.

London as we never knew it!

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Completely devoid of any academic "stuffiness", Liza Picard's well-researched, informative book is instantly accessible, and almost conversational in style.

The opening ten to twenty minutes provides us with a pretty honest, graphic account of Victorian London's poor sanitation and overflowing sewage system, with reference to the constant smell of human and animal excrement, decaying food and rotting carcasses. She does not indulge in gratuitous sensationalism, just gives us the truth in plain language. That said, probably best not to start listening to this while having dinner !

Excellent

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very informative and interesting, a great insight into victorian london

victorian london

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