A History of Victorian Literature
Exploring literary diversity and social engagement in Britain
Format:Hardback
Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Published:20th Mar '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£31.95(9780470672396)
This book offers a detailed overview of literary developments in the Victorian era, exploring both prominent and lesser-known authors. A History of Victorian Literature is a significant academic resource.
The book A History of Victorian Literature provides a comprehensive exploration of the diverse literary landscape that emerged during the Victorian era. It highlights the extraordinary variety of literary output produced in Great Britain from 1830 to 1900, emphasizing how these works reflect the significant social and intellectual changes of the time. By examining major literary forms such as the novel, poetry, drama, autobiography, and critical prose, the author reveals how literature evolved alongside the transformation of British society into the world's first industrial economy.
In A History of Victorian Literature, the author delves into the ways writers engaged with new social responsibilities and the shifting cultural landscape. This analysis not only focuses on well-known literary figures but also sheds light on lesser-known authors, offering a fresh perspective on their contributions to the era's literary movement. The narrative is enriched by a broad range of contemporary scholarship, which helps to contextualize the works within the political and social dynamics of the time.
As part of the Blackwell Histories of Literature series, this book serves as an essential resource for understanding the complexities of Victorian literature. It has been recognized as a significant academic contribution, winning the Choice Outstanding Academic Title award in 2009. Readers will appreciate the depth and breadth of analysis presented in this insightful overview of a pivotal period in literary history.
"This is a beautifully written, truly intelligent book that understands the Victorians. Reading this volume was a pleasure that brought home rather forcefully the relatively functional nature of so much professional academic prose." (Victorian Studies, Spring 2010)
"This elegant and far-reaching book offers a surprising source of optimism to those working in the humanities in Higher Education." (Dickens Quarterly, 2010)
"Throughout his prose is clear and unpretentious--in short, entirely appropriate for his intended audience. Though specialists may quibble over what Adams chooses to omit from this concise account, this book is a remarkable achievement." (CHOICE, October 2009)
"...its breadth of coverage is staggering. It includes all the major figures and genres of the age, hosts of relatively minor authors and works, and all the important subgenres. Also, by placing the individual works in their ever-shifting literary and cultural milieus, it provides a depth of insight lacking in more narrowly conceived studies.... Also, it may well stimulate an exploration of the work of such important but neglected authors as Ainsworth, Disraeli and Bulwer-Lytton, not to mention such utterly forgotten authors as Catherine Gore. Adams, in fact, seems to have read so much of the relatively minor and currently neglected literature of the entire period, and writes about it with such gusto and infectious enthusiasm that he extends the breadth and depth of the entire field of Victorian studies and will doubtless inspire specialists as well as less advanced students of the period to read works they might otherwise have viewed as expendable. The book is indeed so replete with valuable insights into so many works and authors that the reader who has taken in its chronological sweep by reading from the introduction through the epilogue will undoubtedly return over and over again via the index to review the readings of particular works" (New Books Online, September 2009)
ISBN: 9780631220824
Dimensions: 236mm x 160mm x 33mm
Weight: 844g
480 pages