Victorious Century
The United Kingdom, 1800–1906
Reeks: Penguin History of Britain
David Cannadine
- 'This
- is
- stupendous.
- The
- British
- nineteenth
- century,
- in
- all
- its
- complexity,
- all
- its
- horror,
- all
- its
- energy,
- all
- its
- hopes
- is
- laid
- bare.
- This
- is
- the
- definitive
- history
- ,
- and
- will
- remain
- so
- for
- generations'
- A.N.
- WilsonTo
- live
- in
- Victorian
- Britain
- was
- to
- experience
- an
- astonishing
- series
- of
- changes,
- of
- a
- kind
- for
- which
- there
- was
- simply
- no
- precedent
- in
- the
- human
- experience.
- There
- were
- revolutions
- in
- transport,
- communication,
- work;
- cities
- grew
- vast;
- scientific
- ideas
- made
- the
- intellectual
- landscape
- unrecognizable.
- This
- was
- an
- exhilarating
- time,
- but
- also
- a
- horrifying
- one.In
- his
- major
- new
- book
- David
- Cannadine
- has
- created
- a
- bold,
- fascinating
- new
- interpretation
- of
- Victorian
- Britain.
- This
- was
- a
- country
- which
- saw
- itself
- at
- the
- summit
- of
- the
- world
- and
- by
- some
- measures
- this
- was
- indeed
- true.
- And
- yet
- it
- was
- a
- society
- also
- convulsed
- by
- doubt,
- fear
- and
- introspection.
- Repeatedly,
- politicians
- and
- writers
- felt
- themselves
- to
- be
- staring
- into
- the
- abyss
- and
- what
- is
- seen
- as
- an
- era
- of
- irritating
- self-belief
- was
- in
- practice
- obsessed
- by
- a
- sense
- of
- its
- own
- fragility,
- whether
- as
- a
- great
- power
- or
- as
- a
- moral
- force.Victorious
- Century
- is
- an
- extraordinarily
- enjoyable
- and
- stimulating
- book
- -
- its
- author
- catches
- the
- relish,
- humour
- and
- staginess
- of
- the
- age,
- but
- also
- the
- dilemmas
- of
- a
- kind
- with
- which
- we
- remain
- familiar today.
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