Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #316031 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 350 pages

AN Wilson, THE EVENING STANDARD
'Reading her book is like gazing at one of those energetic, crowded canvanses by the Victorian painter William Powell Frith.'

Review
'Reading her book is like gazing at one of those energetic, crowded canvanses by the Victorian painter William Powell Frith.' (AN Wilson THE EVENING STANDARD )

'She is an engaging companion, always wondering out loud about the sort of questions which you've asked yourself........an enjoyable book.' (Philip Hensher THE SPECTATOR )

'Picard enjoys recounting the gruesome daily mechanics of living in what Cobbett described as 'the great wen'' (Tristrum Hunt NEW STATESMAN )

'Picard is particularly good on the sort of thing that contemporary chronicles didn't always think to put in..... a very welcome addition to the skyline (Adam Newey THE GUARDIAN )

'This book is a feast of tit-bits, bringing 19th-century London to life piecemeal with the accumulation of facts.' (Jad Adams THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

'Liza Picard shares Victorian Londoners' enthusiasm for their bits and bobs.' (Kate Summerscale THE DAILY TELEGRAPH )

'She writes the old history, descriptive and unanalytical, painted in exhilarating colours. Victorian London, finest example of the greatest urban age since the Renaissance, was made for her.' (Simon Jenkins THE SUNDAY TIMES )

'The book is a mine of information.' (THE WEEK )

'witty and entertaining.' (IMAGE )

'wonderfully entertaining.' (Gillian Tindall LITERARY REVIEW )

'Vividness is the book's aim, and this is achieved splendidly.' (THE ECONOMIST )

'Picard's characters and extracts are not only telling and to the point, but often drily comic' (Judith Flanders TLS )

Tristrum Hunt, NEW STATESMAN
'Picard enjoys recounting the gruesome daily mechanics of living in what Cobbett described as 'the great wen''

Customer Reviews

An entertaining read
Liza Picard's latest book is an entertaining, pleasingly diverting history of the period, written with her usual wit and fondess for the minutiae of daily life of times past. It's full of enthusiasm for the subject, hugely readable and a mine of information about a fascinating period.

I'm somewhat taken aback by the scathing review from A Reader From Edinburgh. While I don't claim it is the greatest history book of all time, it's significantly better than the review below would lead you to believe.

An entertaining read
I found Victorian London to be entertaining, full of enthusiasm for the subject full of enjoyable facts, large and small. All in all, highly enjoyable. A bit lightweight in places, but nothing wrong in that.

Yet it is exactly the same book as the reviewer from Edinburgh loathed with a passion bordering on hate. Yes, there are more serious history books available and yes, if you are fortunate, you could go visit your local folk museum. None of which seems to warrant one of the most damning reviews I have read on Amazon.

I urge you to read the book yourself. It will tell you more about London than you could possibly imagine.

Fascinating read
I too came across this book by chance - and found I couldn't put it down once I started reading. Unlike some other reviewers, I liked the fact that it wasn't a 'heavy' history book (not to say it doesn't provide a mine of information, however). Rather than dry analysis of the political/industrial/scientific developments of the period, everything was referred back to the impact on the people, their responses, their thoughts. It paints a rich picture of what Victorian life was like for people of all classes - which was what I was looking for.

The chapters are divided by subject area (railways, health, women, class etc) - and don't necessarily need to be read chronologically. The reviewer who found the first couple of chapters boring might have found more interest going further into the book first - the chapter on health, for example was a real eye opener.

I really like Liza Picard's style of writing. She clearly picks some anecdotes for the amusement (and astonishment) of the reader, and dots the book with her own wry observations (many of which made me giggle). This makes what is potentially a hard-going subject very easy to read. Charming, in fact.

I am delighted to find she has written about other periods - and am off to purchase them!