The Victorian Era

Britain in 1837 was a country rising to undisputed dominance of industry, intellectual life, global markets, and the Atlantic world. During the subsequent 65 years, it would become the greatest empire in history. This course will study Britain ‘inside and outside’ the Imperial experience, looking at rival arguments about what fuelled the industrial revolution; why Britain did not experience a violent political revolution and why Chartism failed but Parliamentary reform succeeded. The growth of parliamentary government and the civil service will be traced, and the interaction of literature, art and cultural self-confidence and criticism in Empire illuminated.

Case studies of Ireland, India, and the scramble for Africa will allow us to pose questions about terrorism, world power and race. We shall also look at the London poor, the Victorian mode of social reform, and the growth of Victorian consumerism and media outlets, considering how the interaction of all these forces contributed to collective panic about crime, from Spring-Heeled Jack through the garrotters and Jack the Ripper. The course will end with the intimations of Imperial mortality encountered in the Boer Wars and the rise of Germany, and an assessment of Britain’s Imperial legacy. The study trip visits the Victoria and Albert Docks and museums in London.

Subject areas: History.
Check with your home institution for specific information on fulfilment of major/course requirements.