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When we say “Victorian Britain”, we’re referring, loosely, to the period that fell between Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837-1901. This was an era of massive societal upheaval -- the effects of the Industrial Revolution, the growth of the British Empire, the rise of scientific theories, and the advent of secularism are just a few topics that mixed things up in Victorian Britain. This book list deals with things at "home" in Britain, and as well as things abroad in the British Empire. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Empire ruled over almost 25% of the world’s population.<ref>Brendon, Piers. The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997. New York: Vintage Books, 2010.</ref> No small feat. As the saying went: “The sun never sets on the British Empire.”<ref>This phrase was commonly published in multiple newspapers, magazines, and even children's encyclopedias.</ref>
The books listed below just barely brush the surface of the history of nineteenth-century Britain and its Empire, but they are a good place to start.
1. [https://www.amazon.com/Pax-Britannica-Trilogy-Farewell-Trumpets/dp/B0000COIG4 Jan Morris: ''The Pax Britannica Trilogy''].
This series is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and readable histories of the rapid progress , and eventual fall of the British Empirein the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It reads The volumes read almost like a novel as Morris encapsulates her reader with the sights, sounds, and smells of the Empire. The series is divided into three books, in the following order:
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2. [https://www.amazon.com/London-Labour-Poor-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140432418/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508823670&sr=1-1&keywords=mayhew+london+labour Henry Mayhew: ''London Labour and the London Poor''] – This four volume work by social theorist Henry Mayhew is full of rich, accurate accounts of what life was like for the "down and out" (the poor and working classes) in Victorian London. Mayhew interviewed everyone from small shop owners, to prostitutes, to pure-finders (those who collected dog poop for money). This groundbreaking look into the life of London's poorest was, and remains, one of the most important works on working-class culture ever published. Mayhew's work has also been annotated by Penguin Classics into a 512-page book as well.
3. [https://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Science-Context-Bernard-Lightman/dp/0226481123/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508823720&sr=8-1&keywords=victorian+science+in+context Bernard Lightman: ''Victorian Science in Context''] – Science was an extremely important part of life in Victorian England. New scientific discoveries were being made almost daily, and for the first time, newspapers were affordable to almost everyone, so scientific knowledge spread like wildfire among all classes. Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection was published right in the middle of the Victorian era, in 1859. To those living in the nineteenth century, science was somewhat akin to magic, and was an endless source of fascination.
