Victorian Country Life

Description

During the reign of Queen Victoria, industrialisation changed every aspect of rural life. Industrial diversification led to a decline in agriculture and mass migration from country to town and city - in 1851 half the population lived in the countryside, but by 1901 only a quarter did so. This book outlines the changes and why they occurred. It paints a picture of country life as it was when Victoria came to the throne and shows how a recognisably modern version of the British countryside had established itself by the end of her reign. Cheap food from overseas meant that Britain was no longer self-sufficient but it freed up money to be spent on other goods: village industries and handcrafts were undercut by the new industrial technology that brought about mass production, and markets were replaced by shops that grew into department stores.

Janet Sacks is a writer specialising in social history, and is also an experienced editor. She is the author of New Lives for Old, published by the National Archives in 2008, which tells the story of British child migrants. Janet has an MA in literature from the University of Sussex, and lives and works in London. She wrote 'Victorian Childhood' for Shire.