Product Description

This title accompanies Channel 4's programme that reveals just how radically life has been transformed by a century of science and technology. This "living experiment" transports a family, with all their technological dependencies, back to 1900 to live for three months in a house restored to the exact specifications of the era. As the family struggle to adjust to these strange conditions in which electricity, plumbing, central heating, basic hygiene and all the other essentials that we now take for granted have not yet been discovered, the real difference science has made to our lives becomes amusingly clear. For the three months the family live in this 1900 house with gas lighting, coal fires, candlelight, carbolic soaps and an outside privy. They dress in starched collars, wash their clothes with a "dolly", haul coal up the stairs and use an earth closet instead of a flushing toilet. Revealing and entertaining, combining scientific discovery with surprising insights into everyday life, this book is an accessible approach to the history of science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #286104 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
It sounds like a great idea--but would you have done it? Take your family to an authentic 1900-style house in the suburbs of London and live for three months as Victorians? The Bowlers, Paul and Joyce, with their four children, Kathryn, Ruth, Hilary and Joe, were chosen for this time-travel experiment and survived well. They all admired their Victorian forebears but only Paul Bowler, the father, envied them. Perhaps this just shows that life 100 years ago may have been very good for men, but not so good for housewives or children. The girls were especially delighted at the end of the three months to be back in the age of Point Horror books, Leonardo di Caprio and hair-care products. You can get a good feel of how hard life was from the Bowler's shopping list: no hair conditioner, automatic washing-powder, kiwi fruit, frozen food, but instead, "ammonia, bathbrick, borax, candles, gelatine, lard, tapioca and turpentine." On the other hand, there are some nice surprises: toast was made in a matter of seconds, grilled before the open range. This is a fascinating picture of how life really felt in 1900, accompanying a major Channel 4 series. -- Christopher Hart

Review
Could you live witout television? Without a washing machine? Without central heating? The Bowler family found out at first-hand when they were selected for an unusual three month experiment that was featured in a Channel 4 series. A Victorian house in South London had been restored to its exact original state and the Bowlers were whicked back in time to 1900. Using poignant extracts from the Bowlers' diaries and excellent colour photographs, the book gives an intriguing insight into a unique historical venture. A description of the state of the nation in late Victiorian times sets the experiment in context. There is also a detailed account of the painstaking conversion of the house. Whether or not you saw the original television series, you will enjoy sharing the trials and triumphs of this exceptional family. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

Take a step back in time
This excellent book could be used (with the video of the series) as a history lesson for junior/middle school age children, as it brings to life a period that is before their time and yet with the insight of a family from today.

I found the book to be a really good resource, not only reminding me of things seen in the television series but also for the sidebars of historical facts to do with various aspects of life in 1900.

In the hustle of our "stressful" lives nowadays, taking a step back into a "simpler" time - when a woman's work truly was never "done", when doing the laundry was a whole days work and manual labour at that, when personal hygeine was a feat in itself - will surely make us count our blessings.

This is a book for parents to talk about with their children, so that they can truly appreciate what their great-grandparents lives were like, and to realize how different their lives are today.

Even better than the series
If you liked the series, you will love this book. It is a well-written text of the Bowler family adventures. Lots of color and pictures, background information, before-and-after pictures of the house, and diary entries from the family. The book is graphically appealing, too -- a well-done book. I just wish the series would have been longer than four episodes, especially considering the Bowlers were there for three months. This is a must-read for any fan of the series.

A fascinating and entertaining book
This book was so interesting I could not put it down. It told of England in 1900, about daily life and about the experiences of a family who went to live in a house done like a house from 1900.