| Contents |
Public scandals. Opening Mazzini's mail: Sir James Graham and the Post Office -- The railway juggernaut: Delane, Dickens and the press -- Poor law bastille: the Andover workhouse scandal -- Private lives. Love by post: Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning -- Letters from the continent: Ruskin in Italy -- Letters of the living and the dead: Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle -- Oxford movements. Established church in crisis: William George Ward and the Oxford Movement -- A dangerous correspondence: Newman on the road to Rome -- Irish questions. Educating papist priests: Gladstone and the Maynooth grant -- From our own Commissioner: Daniel O'Connell and The Times -- A prime minister resigns: Peel and the Corn Laws. |
| Abstract |
"The challenges facing England in the crucible of 1845 included the poor law; a failed harvest and Irish potato blight; John Henry Newman's conversion to Rome; and railway expansion, in the context of which frequent accidents endangered lives and 'railway mania' led to the ruin of many small investors. The nation's response to these challenges shaped the Victorian age. A communication revolution, effected both by the growth of the railway network and by the use of the uniform penny post, only served to intensify an atmosphere of far-reaching social and political change. Through their letters, Michael Wheeler takes us behind the scenes as the leading figures of the day play out their roles on the national stage. For both scholars and general readers, this book gives lively, accessible and original insights into the history, politics, religion and literature of an age at once close to and distant from us"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Wheeler, Michael, 1947- Year that shaped the Victorian age Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023 9781009268868 |
| Genre/form | Criticism, interpretation, etc. |
| Genre/form | History. |
| LCCN | 2022024820 |
| ISBN | 9781009268851 |
| ISBN | 1009268856 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9781009268837 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 100926883X |
| ISBN | (epub) |
