Victorian London

In this, the fourth in her series of London histories, Liza Picard runs through the everyday life of Londoners between 1840 - 1870; a time when the city was the heart of the British Empire and its inhabitants seemed to be buzzing with new ideas and inventions.

The book does a fine job of painting a vivid picture in the readers mind: smells, sights and sounds are all covered in huge detail using themed chapters, which are in themselves subdivided into smaller component parts. Religion, education, industry, fashion, amusements, prisons, death, punishment and everything in between are discussed with a subtle sense of humour. You are left with a deep, textural understanding of how real people lived their lives; you can almost hear their voices telling you about their daily chores, problems and grind.

I did however have a couple of criticisms: I personally felt that there was just too much information packed into the book: dates and events, both large and trivial were crammed together proving that while the author had completed a massive amount of research but with better editing, less repetition and a more critical assessment of what is presented then the text would have flowed so much better.
I also would have preferred less of a chronological organisation to the text; this may well just be my own personal preference and the way that my brain works? But these are only minor issues.

So, in conclusion I found Victorian London to be entertaining, full of enthusiasm and definitely worth buying especially if you like to read non-fiction and /or history for pleasure. Though the lack of a common thread or narrative distracted me I can still highly recommend this book. The readable prose strikes a sensible balance between entertainment and conveying a difficult and sprawling subject in a knowledgeable and educational way. All in all, a highly enjoyable read that made me feel glad to have not been born into such a chaotic society!