Victorians At Home and Abroad (Victoria and Albert Museum Studies)

Published on the centenary of Queen Victoria's death, this illustrated book is an opportunity to revisit the achievements of the Victorian period, putting aside the attitudes and judgements of the 20th century. The Victorians were expansive, ambitious, imaginative and confident. Makers of the modernworld, their extraordinary vision provoked revolutions in art and culture, in society, in science and industry, and in international trade. Their figurehead was Queen Victoria, whose coronation in 1838 heralded the most exciting period in modern history, when Britain emerged as a major imperial power trading nation. Exploring the essential characteristics of the Victorians, this book measures their achievements in all the many facetsof their turbulent society. At the same time, it highlightstheir willingness to face the many debates and divisions that fragmented their culture, and their attempts to come to terms with a new world order. Monarchy, family, Victoria's New Britain and the Gothic vision, sport, ships and trains, domestic life, death and religion, nature and landscape, interior decoration, the impact of world cultures and exoticism are all featured in this colourful snapshot of the Victorian vision of the world.