Pleasures and Pastimes in Victorian England

It was a paradox of 19th century Britain that while work was the bedrock upon which the Victorian vision of progress and improvement was constructed, the years between 1837 and 1901 saw the greatest upsurge in leisure pursuits. This book deals with the pleasures and pastimes enjoyed by the Victorians, setting the various activities enjoyed into the context of the growth of leisure time and changes in occupational structure, as well as the increasing concentration of people in urban society. A more structured approach to leisure came about throughout the period, with the creation of parks, libraries, art galleries and museums, and greater literacy widened horizons, while technological change also had its effect in making available cheap books, newspapers, and musical instruments.

Pamela Horn lectured at Oxford Polytechnic, now Oxford Brookes University, for over twenty years, also working as an external examiner for a number of other educational institutions.