Description
What was special about 1845 and why does it deserve particular scrutiny? In his much-anticipated new book, one of the leading authorities on the Victorian age argues that this was the critical year in a decade which witnessed revolution on continental Europe, the threat of mass insurrection at home and radical developments in railway transport, communications, religion, literature and the arts. The effects of the new poor law now became visible in the workhouses; a potato blight started in Ireland, heralding the Great Famine; and the Church of England was rocked to its foundations by John Henry Newman's conversion to Roman Catholicism. What Victorian England became was moulded, says Michael Wheeler, in the crucible of 1845. Exploring pivotal correspondence, together with pamphlets, articles and cartoons, the author tells the riveting story of a seismic epoch through the lives, loves and letters of leading contemporaneous figures.
Michael Wheeler is a leading authority on the Victorian age. His exploration of 1845 transforms our understanding of the period.
About the Author
Michael Wheeler is a leading cultural and literary historian and presently a Visiting Professor of English Literature at the University of Southampton. His many critically acclaimed books include the prize-winning Death and the Future Life in Victorian Literature and Theology (1990), Ruskin's God (1999), The Old Enemies (2006) and St John and the Victorians (2011) - all published by Cambridge University Press - and, most recently, The Athenaeum, published by Yale University Press in 2020.
Reviews
'This lively account shows how a single year came to epitomise so many of the overarching themes of the Victorian age. An inviting read even for those already familiar with the episodes depicted, this is a meticulous and thoroughly-researched tour de force of scholarship by an author who always has new things to say.' Rohan McWilliam, Professor of Modern British History, Anglia Ruskin University
'Remarkably informative, interesting, well-researched, and well-expressed, this study complements the many existing books on Victorian life and culture with both well- known and little-known material approached from a fresh point of view and supplemented in places by the use of hitherto unpublished documents.' Rosemary Ashton, Emeritus Quain Professor of English Language and Literature, University College London
'Wheeler is a fine cultural historian, and anyone who picks up this book will learn a great deal about the figures he has chosen ... (his) study is careful and consistently interesting.' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Spectator
'In this enthralling study, Wheeler argues that it was in 'the crucible of 1845' that Victorian England came to define itself ... Reading Wheeler's chapter on ... John Henry Newman - so well does he tell the familiar story - it is as if we are hearing it for the first time.' John Pridmore, Church Times
Book Information
ISBN 9781009268851
Author Michael Wheeler
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 146mm * 31mm
Michael Wheeler is a leading authority on the Victorian age. His exploration of 1845 transforms our understanding of the period.
About the Author
Michael Wheeler is a leading cultural and literary historian and presently a Visiting Professor of English Literature at the University of Southampton. His many critically acclaimed books include the prize-winning Death and the Future Life in Victorian Literature and Theology (1990), Ruskin's God (1999), The Old Enemies (2006) and St John and the Victorians (2011) - all published by Cambridge University Press - and, most recently, The Athenaeum, published by Yale University Press in 2020.
Reviews
'This lively account shows how a single year came to epitomise so many of the overarching themes of the Victorian age. An inviting read even for those already familiar with the episodes depicted, this is a meticulous and thoroughly-researched tour de force of scholarship by an author who always has new things to say.' Rohan McWilliam, Professor of Modern British History, Anglia Ruskin University
'Remarkably informative, interesting, well-researched, and well-expressed, this study complements the many existing books on Victorian life and culture with both well- known and little-known material approached from a fresh point of view and supplemented in places by the use of hitherto unpublished documents.' Rosemary Ashton, Emeritus Quain Professor of English Language and Literature, University College London
'Wheeler is a fine cultural historian, and anyone who picks up this book will learn a great deal about the figures he has chosen ... (his) study is careful and consistently interesting.' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Spectator
'In this enthralling study, Wheeler argues that it was in 'the crucible of 1845' that Victorian England came to define itself ... Reading Wheeler's chapter on ... John Henry Newman - so well does he tell the familiar story - it is as if we are hearing it for the first time.' John Pridmore, Church Times
Book Information
ISBN 9781009268851
Author Michael Wheeler
Format Hardback
Page Count 280
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 700g
Dimensions(mm) 223mm * 146mm * 31mm
