The Victorians

Description

Jeremy Paxman's bestselling study of the Victorians through their paintings - now in paperback Jeremy Paxman's unique portrait of the Victorian age takes readers on an exciting journey through the birth of modern Britain. Using the paintings of the era as a starting point, he tells us stories of urban life, family, faith, industry and empire that helped define the Victorian spirit and imagination. To Paxman, these paintings were the television of their day, and his exploration of Victorian art and society shows how these artists were chronicling a world changing before their eyes. This enthralling history is Paxman at his best - opinionated, informed, witty, surprising - and a glorious reminder of how the Victorians made us who we are today.

Jeremy Paxman was born in Yorkshire and educated at Cambridge. He is an award-winning journalist and the author of Friends in High Places- Who Runs Britain?, Fish, Fishing and the Meaning of Life, The English, The Political Animal and On Royalty. He is currently presenter of Newsnight and University Challenge.

A real contribution to art history, introducing the reader to a rich mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar... the book certainly taught me things about the Victorians that I either did not know or had not thought about with sufficient imagination -- A.N. Wilson * The Guardian * A wonderful introduction to the sheer vibrancy of the Victorian era... genuinely impressive -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Evening Standard *