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Product Description
Book Description
Jeremy Paxman's unique exploration of Victorian society, through the paintings of the era
Product Description
In The Victorians, Jeremy Paxman offers his personal take on the most important and influential period of our national past. Using the paintings of the era as his starting point - in his view, the one mode of Victorian art yet to be rescued from indifference - Paxman explores themes of family, urban life, industry, empire, and imagination to uncover truths (and explode some myths) about Victorian Britain.
To Paxman, these paintings were the television of their day, immensely popular visual narratives that attracted crowds by the hundreds of thousands: a single picture show featuring Elizabeth Butler's Balaclava (depicting survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade) drew 50,000 viewers, some of them openly weeping. The Victorians shows how artists like Butler, William Powell Frith, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Luke Fildes, and Ford Madox Brown were chronicling a world changing before their eyes, and his overview ranges across the whole of Victorian life and culture: from high gothic architecture to the birth of the football league, from the novels of Dickens to the technological marvels of Brunel.
Published to coincide with a landmark BBC series, The Victorians is an opinionated, informed, surprising, and hugely enthusiastic appraisal of the birth of modern Britain - a glorious reminder of how the Victorians made us who we are today.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Jeremy Paxman's The Victorians is stuffed with famous and obscure paintings,all documented by title,artist and gallery,below the work,making the book incredibly easy to read. No flicking around to see the subject! The written work is learned but fast-flowing,revealing Paxman's knowledge and liking for Victorian Art,pithy rather than maudling. His research is nationwide,with works often pulled from the industrial cities, whose wealth reflected the surges in Victorian life.
A well documented passion, from an "unlikely" source,
A well documented passion, from an "unlikely" source,
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having attended Mr Paxman's book launch at Ely Cathedral recently I am now a confirmed fan. Mr Paxman knows his subject inside out and his passion was evident from the start. An excellent accompaniment to the TV series, "The Victorians" is an entertaining and informative work.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was firstly surprised to find this was almost novel-like in size - most unusual for this type of book, but actually means it's easy to carry around/read on the train etc! Nervertheless there are reproductions of the paintings dotted throughout so it's not all text. It's clear Paxman is really enthused by his subject, which is always important when approaching topics of this kind - the Victorians are so frequently written about, but this provides an enjoyable and unique angle. Definitely deserves to be widely read - shows that history can be understood not simply as a lists of dates and events, but by appreciating the works of the people of the age in the form of paintings (or indeed, works of literature) and how they felt about, and portrayed, the age in which they lived.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A novel Paxman
The programme to which the book is linked was excellent, showing Paxman in a new light, revealing an unexpected passion and lifetime interest. Read more
Published 8 months ago by RR Waller
fascinating history
a well-produced and very interesting book with excellent reproductions of paintings.There is much I didn't know about social affairs and several myths were exploded. Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Stewart
An extremely pleasant - not to say erudite - short excursion
I discovered Paxman's entertaining and informative style when I read his 'The English' and 'On Royalty'in quick succession, and this description of the paintings - subjects, style... Read more
Published on 3 April 2010 by Headley J. des Forges
Brilliant panorama
I am an art HISTORIAN, so I was naturally interested in the Mr Paxman book, but there is a multitude books on the Victorian era on the market, so I was curious about it, but... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2010 by Rajkowska Iwona
Good, but could have been better
I'd have to start by saying that the book is not as good as the TV series: Paxman's on screen presentation of the subject matter has more of an edge and excitement to it that the... Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2009 by P. SKEATES
Ra-ra the Pre-Raphs!
This is a romp through the most famous paintings of the Victorian period, with chapter groupings by subject area ('The Mob', women, fantasy etc) rather than by date or artist. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2009 by William Watts
Fantastic once it arrived!!!
The book is fantastic, however the product arrived over a month after ordering which was especially embarassing as it was for my fathers birthday!
Published on 24 May 2009 by L. V. Nicklin
Paxman surprised me!
The book is all it says on the tin.
My Wife (who I bought it for) loved it, and hasn't stopped reading it since.
Also Well Done!!!! Read more
My Wife (who I bought it for) loved it, and hasn't stopped reading it since.
Also Well Done!!!! Read more
Published on 26 April 2009 by N. Vincent
THE VICTORIANS BY JEREMY PAXMAN
An interesting and enjoyable book written in a lively and accessible style, with the pictures leading to plenty of social comment on Victorian life. Read more
Published on 15 April 2009 by Gail Treliving
The Victorians - Britian through the Paintings of the Age.
Jeremy Paxman's book, whilst never overly sentimental, gives an often moving portrayal of the Victorian Age. Read more
Published on 11 April 2009 by Margaret Macklin
Listmania!
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