The Victorian period was a time of rapid cultural change, which resulted in a huge and varied literary output. A New Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture offers experienced guidance to the literature of nineteenth-century Britain and its social and historical context. This revised and expanded edition comprises contributions from over 30 leading scholars who, approaching the Victorian epoch from different positions and traditions, delve into the unruly complexities of the Victorian imagination.

Divided into five parts, this new companion surveys seven decades of history before examining the keys phases in a Victorian life, the leading professions and walks of life, the major Victorian literary genres, and the way Victorians defined their persons, their homes, and their national identities. Important topics such as sexuality, denominational faith, social class, and global empire inform each chapter’s approach. Each chapter provides a comprehensive bibliography of established and emerging scholarship.

• Cover 2
• Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture 5
• Title page 6
• Copyright page 7
• Contents 8
• Notes on Contributors 12
• Introduction 19
• Part One: History in Focus 24
  • 1: 1832 26
    • Finding the Beginning 26
    • Georgian or Victorian? The Political Scene 29
    • The Missing Generation 33
    • How It Struck Some Contemporaries 36
  • 2: 1851 42
    • Revolution and Reform 42