A Companion to Nineteenth-Century Britain

This Companion presents 33 essays by expert scholars on all the major aspects of the political, social, economic and cultural history of Britain during the late Georgian and Victorian eras. It makes sense of the fascinating new perspectives on this era that have been generated in recent years while not losing sight of broader, more enduring themes. Each essay both distills the current state of historical scholarship and assesses the directions that research is likely to take in future. All the contributions pay attention to the experiences of women as well as of men, and to regional and national variations across Britain and Ireland. Though engaged with cutting-edge theories, including postmodern and post-structuralist perspectives, the contributors avoid technical jargon and assume no prior expert knowledge. The volume is written in a clear and energetic manner, and illustrated with maps and charts where appropriate. Guides to further reading allow readers to follow chosen avenues of investigation with confidence.

Chris Williams is Professor of Welsh History at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is an editor of the Studies in Welsh History monograph series and a committee member of Llafur, the Welsh People’s History Society. He is the author of Democratic Rhondda: Politics and Society, 1885–1951 (1996), Capitalism, Community and Conflict: The South Wales Coalfield 1898–1947 (1998), and editor (with Duncan Tanner and Deian Hopkin) of The Labour Party in Wales, 1900–2000 (2000) and (with Jane Aaron) of Postcolonial Wales (2005).