1895
Drama, Disaster and Disgrace in Late Victorian Britain
Published on 18. June 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
248 pages
978-0-7486-9466-2 (ISBN)
Description
Explores the lasting cultural and political impact of the events of this remarkable year
Oscar Wilde's libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry and its disastrous repercussions dominated British newspapers during the spring of 1895, but as this innovative study reveals, the Wilde scandal was by no means the only event to capture the public's imagination that year. Freak weather, a flu epidemic, a General Election, industrial unrest, 'sex novels' and New Women, trials of murderers and fraudsters, accidents, anarchists, bombers, balloonists and bicyclists were all topics of interest and alarm. Had Jack the Ripper returned? Did the Prime Minister have a dreadful secret? Were Aubrey Beardsley's drawings corrupting the nation's morals? Were overpaid foreign players corrupting English football? Could cricket save a degenerate nation from moral ruin?Drawing on strikingly diverse primary sources, Nicholas Freeman examines the recurrent preoccupations of a turbulent year, showing how 1890s' Britain is at once far removed from our own day and yet strangely familiar.
Oscar Wilde's libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry and its disastrous repercussions dominated British newspapers during the spring of 1895, but as this innovative study reveals, the Wilde scandal was by no means the only event to capture the public's imagination that year. Freak weather, a flu epidemic, a General Election, industrial unrest, 'sex novels' and New Women, trials of murderers and fraudsters, accidents, anarchists, bombers, balloonists and bicyclists were all topics of interest and alarm. Had Jack the Ripper returned? Did the Prime Minister have a dreadful secret? Were Aubrey Beardsley's drawings corrupting the nation's morals? Were overpaid foreign players corrupting English football? Could cricket save a degenerate nation from moral ruin?Drawing on strikingly diverse primary sources, Nicholas Freeman examines the recurrent preoccupations of a turbulent year, showing how 1890s' Britain is at once far removed from our own day and yet strangely familiar.
Reviews / Votes
1895 is a highly accessible book, written with a verve and grace that belies the immense research that was no doubt required to produce it. -- Barry Faulk * Journal of British Studies, Vol. 51, No. 4 * Freeman's extensive archival digging produces some truly new and fascinating understandings of a culture, a nation, and a year. -- PATRICK R. O'MALLEY, Georgetown University * Notes and Queries * Nicholas Freeman's entertaining and instructive book [focusses] closely on the events of 1895. He stitches together a rich tapestry of the year's incidents, debates, scandals and diversions...It is a crowded canvas, and a thought-provoking one. -- Matthew Sturgis * The Times Literary Supplement *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
12 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
431 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7486-9466-2 (9780748694662)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2011
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€0.00
Available for download
E-Book
10/2011
Edinburgh University Press
€24.49
Available for download
Person
Nicholas Freeman is Senior Lecturer in English at Loughborough University.
Content
Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Illustrations; Series Editor's Preface; Into the Past: A Brief Foreword; Winter: 15 September 1894 - 28 February 1895; Changes in the Weather; Punching the Pimp; Artificial Flowers and Strange Perfumes; On the Prowl; Death in Kensington; Christmas Lists and Resolutions; Decorative Salaciousness; A Man's Game; First (K)nights; Changes for the Worse; Renewing Hostilities; Women Who Did; Trivial Comedy, Serious People; Spring: 1 March - 30 May 1895; Degenerate Days, Lugubrious Psychologists; The Tooting Tragedy; Freezing Footballs; Blazing Bibles; Irish Affairs; A Wretched Band of Youths; Panic in Vigo Street; Up Against It; A Grand Day Out; Wilde On Trial; Problem Pictures; Jabez and Oscar; Rosebery Returns; Summer: 1 June 1895 - 31 August 1895; Dandy in the Underworld; Elevation and Excoriation; Flaming June; Rosebery Resigns; The Noble Game; A Dreadful Business; En Vacances; Summer Gleanings; Autumn into Winter: 1 September 1895 - 31 December 1895; Revolting Ladies; Welling Up; Silver and Rubies; Trilbymanial; Ave Satani; Far From Dear Father; Exit Jabez; Jude the Obscene; An Epidemic of Indecency; Endings; Bibliography; Index.