`... compulsive reading ... providing a balanced appraisal of changing values and ideas in Victorian society with some close attention to political affairs, diplomatic history and imperialism. The author ... has produced a model work which brings the dead hand of the typical textbook writer to life: the student will surely enjoy the verve, pace and the occasional flourish.' - Times Education Supplement

• INTRODUCTION 1 People of the Book 2 Age of Steam 3 Disease and Drudgery 4 Lord John and Sir Robert 5 Patriotism Prevails 6 Lord Pumicestone 7 The People’s Darling 8 Leap in the Dark 19 Towards a Modern State (1) 10 Towards a Modern State (2) 11 Beaconsfieldism and Midlothianism 12 Cloud in the West 13 The Great Depression: Fact and Fiction 14 Death of Liberal England 15 Birth of the Twentieth Century 16 Imperial Pre-eminence 17 African Scramble 18 A Clash of Empires 19 Recessional 20 New Ways for Old 21 Queen and Mother