Victorian Britain

De: Patrick N. Allitt, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Patrick N. Allitt

This series of 36 fascinating lectures is a chronological journey into the story of Victorian Britain, from the unexpected ascension to the throne of teenaged Princess Victoria in 1837 to her death in 1901 as the Boer War neared its end.

Presented with all of Victoria's strengths and foibles left intact by an award-winning teacher and author, the lectures invite you to reflect on both the positive and negative aspects of her reign. You'll discover the lives of Victorian women; the situation facing working people and the rise of trade unionism; Victorian achievements in art, literature, architecture, and music; and what Leonard Woolf called "the seriousness of games," and of leisure-time activities as windows on Victorian life.

You'll discuss the important role played by Christianity as a force for both principled adherence to tradition and principled pursuit of change; and the influence of science and the debates over its impact that animated the Victorians.

And you'll learn what the Victorians believed about education; the questions raised by Britain's rule over its empire, the problems of poverty and crime; the discoveries of Victorian explorers in Africa; and much more in this remarkable rendering of a remarkable age.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2002 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2002 The Great Courses

intresting and informative

This was a great lecture and entertaining as well as informative. If I had one complaint it would be how sometimes things have to jump around instead of being chronological but it really cant be chronological in its format. if you want to know in depth of the Victorian age this is the lecture for you.

Loved this!

This is one of my favorite teachers of the Great Courses and I loved this set of lectures.

Professor Allitt is sublime and superlative.

I favour this course over all others owing to content and the superlative Professor Allitt.

Objective, Dispassionate, Thorough

Organized in logical, chronological manner, with focus on different topics as needed. Altogether, it gives a really comprehensive overview of a very important but often overlooked era. Also a very enjoyable narrator -- no-nonsense lecturer, but his occasional chuckles are so much fun! And it's WONDERFUL to have the accompanying text!!! Wish more Great Courses on Audible came with the accompanying text for future reference!!!

A gem

Quite a complete description and analysis of Victorian Britain: politics, society, culture, with each lecture focusing on a specific matter. I really enjoyed the lectures and hope to see more audiobooks produced by P. N. Allitt.

Informative and entertaining overview of a significant period in human history

Very detailed and expansive view of Victorian Britain presented in an entertaining and balanced way. The presenter’s voice reminded me a little of Eric Idle (from Monty Python) but he came across as an informative academic historian at the same time. I learned so much more even than I expected. Would highly recommend

Don’t Miss Out

Seriously the best lecture series I’ve ever heard on audible. The lecturer was entertaining and did a fantastic job of balancing depth and width of the Victorian period.

I could go on and on, but seriously if you’re looking for content that helps provide both perspective on the past, and how we can use that to illuminate our lives in the present, don’t waste your time with other series. This one takes the cake. Great work Dr. Allit

We shouldn’t be too judgmental too quickly

That thought from Professor Allitt’s last lecture sums up the tenor of the previous thirty-five. Whether he’s dealing with Victorian literature, servants, poverty, industry, religion, music, politics, agriculture, reform, architecture, imperialism, leisure, or any of the myriad subjects covered in this course, he practices, “an imaginative engagement with people whose ideas were different from our own”.

That means that, rather than sneering at the Victorians for, say, their peculiar snobberies, he urges us to, “remember that we’re all snobbish about certain things as well”. Rather than laugh at them, the good professor laughs with them, from zingers delivered in the Commons to cartoons printed in Punch. Even the Oxford Movement gets objective treatment. If we encounter views we abhor, Allitt suggests, “the discipline for us is to say, well, let’s see how they were thinking about it”. Unlike so much modern academic historiography, no axes are being ground here, no agendas served.

Allitt himself is always a pleasure to listen to, from the cadence of his delivery to the smile that’s never very far from the surface.

Charming, funny, clearly presented

This is one of my all-time favorite selections from Audible, and definitely one of the best history Great Courses. Prof. Allitt has a wonderfully funny and sympathetic view of the characters and issues of the Victorian era, and gives a balanced interpretation with plenty of primary sources. While I learned a lot, it was so flat out enjoyable that I'm sure I will return for another listen too. He has a charming speaking voice and has planned these lectures well. By nature, this is an overview but there is still sufficient detail to have a real feeling for the issues and personalities of the time. Allitt also does a good job of reminding us of the ways in which their time differed from ours, and why we can't apply contemporary standards to the people he covers - yet is not an apologist for some of the less appealing aspects of the era.

Highly, highly recommended if you love history.

Fantastic

I listen again and again. Delivery and content superb. What a great teacher! Lively, humorous, delightful.