A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain

By: Michael Paterson

Narrated by: Mark Meadows

Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

How a nation grew into an empire and the birth of a modern society

The Victorian era has dominated the popular imagination like no other period, but these myths and stories also give a very distorted view of the 19th century. The early Victorians were much stranger than we usually imagine, and their world would have felt very different from our own. It was only during the long reign of the Queen that a modern society emerged in unexpected ways.

Using character portraits, events, and key moments, Paterson brings the real life of Victorian Britain alive - from the lifestyles of the aristocrats to the lowest ranks of the London slums. This includes the right way to use a fan, why morning visits were conducted in the afternoon, what the Victorian family ate, and how they enjoyed their free time, as well as the Victorian legacy today: convenience food, coffee bars, window shopping, mass media, and celebrity culture.

©2012 Michael Paterson (P)2012 Audible Ltd

Critic reviews

"Out of the babble of voices, Michael Paterson has been able to extract the essence of London itself. Read this book and re-enter the labyrinth of a now-ancient city." (Peter Ackroyd)

Brief, But Insightful

The biggest criticism anyone will ever find on a "Brief History Of" book is how much is left out. There are volumes upon volumes of histories of Victorian Britain out there, but this one is a social history. Names, dates, and events are used as touchstones here and nothing more; the real attraction is the Victorian society itself. The etiquette, protocol, fashion, habits, beliefs, attitudes, and lifestyles are put under the spotlight. Everything from bowler hats and hoopskirts to calling cards, curry, technological innovation, and Imperialism are looked at in terms of what it means to have these things as a part of everyday life. The queen herself and her prince consort are given a brief biography with the understanding that their examples set the stage for the transitions that had already begun when Victoria took the throne and seeing them through to the beginnings of the first world war. As an entry point into this era of history, this book is perfect for understanding why things were as they were, and it provides several launching points for further exploration. For those who already have the history under their belts, this book fleshes it all out from a more human perspective than a dry narrative might otherwise provide.

Mark Meadows is a fantastic narrator for this. His easy-going delivery makes this book even easier to connect with, and the result is the brief time you spend will seem even more brief if you're remotely inclined towards the subject matter.

Very well done!

As brief histories go, this one is extremely well done. Paterson's social history of Queen Victoria's reign is short on generalizations and dense with well-organized and meaty information about everything from architecture and furnishings to food and fashion. He stresses in particular the social revolutions that took place thanks to innovations in transportation and literacy during the Victorian era. Throughout his study, Paterson draws attention to how thoroughly life transformed from the beginning of Victoria's reign to its close, and how this age of intense change (both physical and intellectual) not only set the stage for much of the world we've inherited globally in the twenty-first century, but also marks the experience of that time as one that resembles our own more closely than we might realize.

Colonel Blimp rides again!!

The first 2/3 of this book is very enjoyable. It explores the customs and etiquette of Victorian Britain, detailing how life changed over the 60 years of the Queen's reign. It is obvious that the author is only interested in the lives of the upper classes, but that is understandable in that the literate, wealthy segment of a population often leaves more documentation of their lives. The section on how the bicycle and the underground changed life is very interesting. However, when the book discusses Britain's colonial legacy, it becomes rather hard to take. Patterson states that even though it is currently 'unfashionable' to defend colonialism, he feels that Britain benefited the countries it occupied by bringing them roads and education, culture and Christianity. He admits that the jobs for which education would prepare the native population would probably not be available to them anyway; he does not seem to realize that an alien culture and religion might not have been welcome 'gifts'. Neither does he address the steady stream of archaeological and cultural treasures systemically looted and sent back to England. This defense of imperialism is an odd sort of thesis for a 21st Century author, considering that the legacy of British rule has been ongoing strife in many of the countries it formerly controlled. The Irish Famine is dismissed in a sentence or two - by saying that the story that Queen Victoria only gave five pounds to famine relief is untrue. he does not say what, if anything, she and her government actually did. I would have enjoyed this book more had the author stuck to life in England, and left politics alone.

Mark Meadows does an excellent job narrating this book - his upper class pronunciation and mellow voice suits the material very well.

Riveting!

Where does A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Excellent! So far, one of my favorites.

What did you like best about this story?

Paterson has done some outstanding research, and Meadows was a very good narrator.

Which character – as performed by Mark Meadows – was your favorite?

The book had a sizable population of Victorians, and he did an impressive job with them all.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Victorian Britain.

Any additional comments?

I wholeheartedly recommend this work.

Glad I bought it

A good overview of how much things changed during the reign, as well as a good comparison of how much technology changed society in a lifetime, similar to modern history.

Good narration - recommended

Not enough about their lives

It is way too heavy on what people wear etc. I never felt like I was looking in on the era. The life of the people is missing.

inaccuracies and falsehoods

Reactionary and fabulous- not a reliable source for those seeking a good understanding of the period.

Well written and superbly read

This literary work should be required reading for all students! It if full of insightful information presented in a manner in no way dry, with occasional humor peppered throughout.

The closest you can get to a time machine

This book is so good at providing such detailed information on several aspects of the British Victorian society it's no hard to picture yourself there, travelling from chapter to chapter.
It has a wide variety of topics and it presents a perfect balance between displaying subjects regarding private life and conceptual ideas that shaped the century, such as what architecture was like or how science developments had a key role in shaping the culture, not only the surroundings.
Also, another remarkable point is how well written, organized and delivered the information is. Given the amount of facts contained in the book, one could easily think it after a while turns into a boring shapeless list of peculiarities, thrown around in lifeless display - but no. The author manages to bring so much context with the data it makes you feel like you're time travelling, while still keeping impartiality.

Some parts were very interesting some parts droned

What did you like best about A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain? What did you like least?

There was lots of interesting information. Im interested in history in general and learned quite a bit about Victorian England

If you’ve listened to books by Michael Paterson before, how does this one compare?

had no prior experience

What three words best describe Mark Meadows’s performance?

unobtrusive, steady, neither up nor down

Was A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain worth the listening time?

I would say so. There will be parts you kind of zone-out on, but the rest is worth while

Any additional comments?

I wish the book had been more in chronological order, but I'm satisfied with the time spent listening

Nevertheless.......

I made it to the end, but gained no new knowledge from this biased and poorly researched book. A better title might be "Life in Middle and Upper Class Victorian Britain". There are lengthy chapters on etiquette and office employment, but almost no mention at all of the lives and work of ordinary people, of their homes or of their way of life. Industry is almost completely ignored and anyone without prior knowledge would come away thinking that the hidden code of the lady's fan was central to Victorian life. The Empire is glorified, and stating that the spread of Christianity across the world was one of its beneficial achievements is quite amazing. I wish I'd counted the number of times "nevertheless" was used - twice in the audio sample alone. As for the pointless mid-chapter sub headings....... Best avoided.

A few inaccuracies

Overall it's a good audiobook outlining the Victorian Period.

However, early on in the book I noticed a few annoying inaccuracies eg: the author referring to Fanny Adams as a ''young woman cut up by her lover'' This is incorrect as it's well known that Fanny Adams was a 8 year old girl murdered by 29 year old bank clerk (not a lover!). Unfortunately, this glaring mistake made me doubt other facts. Narrator had a good voice though and on the whole this audiobook is ok.

A joy

For anyone interested in this era, this is a really good place to start. True, the style is a bit dry at times - this tries to be comprehensive after all - but never boring. The reader tries his best to give live to the dry text and generally succeeds, aided by the relatively simple language. A gem for the interested layman.

Some nice detail, but rather fusty

While the book has some interesting detail and an eye for the everyday things that populate Victorian life, the author clearly leans toward a rather conservative view of the period, and mounts frequent apologia for imperial and colonial Britain.

Full of inaccuracies

If you're interested in history read something else. There are so many inaccuracies and glossings over in this book that it amounts to fiction in some parts .

Very enjoyable

I've got an interest in Victorian Britain and this book covers many facets is decent detail of how the Victorians used to live. One thing that stood out to me was the amount of wars that Britain had and the state of conditions that the soldiers needed to contend with. This book will definitely get a second read in the future although I will be reading Simon Schama's history of Britain first as I know this will be more in depth and cover a wider period.

What Vicky knew.

A good historical work on Victorian Britain, clearly well researched, and very well read. My only problem was the book became stodgy in places. But still readable and enjoyable. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the Victorians or as a one of many source books for students.

Shows all aspects of Victoria life

A beautiful book that puts you in the shoes of the worker, the rising middle class and the aristocracy of Victorian Britain. You will learn about Victorian culture, economics, literature, technology and even war. You get a new understanding and appreciation of Victoria and her realm with this book.

Very Interesting

I found this book very interesting with lots of information, quite a few nuggets too that were completely unknown to me before. I found it did not flow perfectly in places but the narrator was very good which I felt made up for this. Had the narrator not been as good I may have given up after early on.

Delightful, sympathetic and well organised

The chapters are arranged thematically so that thd 64 years in question are treated alternatively from many perspectives.
Very enjoyable book from which I learned much.