BBC - History - Victorians

Industrial revolution powered Britain to global pre-eminence and initiated social reform.Overview: Victorian Britain, 1837 - 1901 by Professor Eric Evans

Inside Victorians

Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers
Politics and Events
Industrial Revolution
Technology and Innovation
Daily Life
Welfare and Health

Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers

Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers Find out which of her ministers she loved 'like a father' and which drove her into a white rage. By Christopher Hibbert.

Disraeli and Gladstone: Opposing Forces The stormy relationship between two extraordinary prime ministers who heartily loathed each other. By Robert Blake.

Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline - 300 years of high ideals and low cunning
Victoria as a Girl: The Patient Rebel by Professor Lynne Vallone

Politics and Events

British India and the 'Great Rebellion'How did the Great Rebellion - otherwise known as the Indian Mutiny - of 1857 shape modern India? By Professor Peter Marshall.

The Irish Famine How rigid ideology may have helped condemn as many as a million people to death. By Jim Donnelly.

Irish Home Rule: An imagined future - How was Home Rule envisaged by its opponents and supporters?
Zulu: The True Story - Evidence of a cover-up, by Saul David
Women's Rights Quiz - Test your knowledge of the rights of Victorian women
The Chartist Movement 1838 - 1848 - Dangerous radicals or proto-democrats? By Stephen Roberts
Reforming Acts by Alexandra Briscoe
Beneath the Surface: A Country of Two Nations by Joanne de Pennington

Industrial Revolution

Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire?Cotton was one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. Find out if you have what it takes to make it in this cut-throat Victorian trade.

All Change in the Victorian Age By the end of the 19th century, daily life had altered beyond all recognition. How did the Victorians shape their world? By Bruce Robinson.

The Workshop of the World - Britain's industrial dominance, by Pat Hudson

Technology and Innovation

Victorian Technology The technology developed in Victoria's reign brought a social and economic revolution whose effects are still being felt today. By Paul Atterbury.

Brunel: 'The Practical Prophet'He is remembered as a great engineer, but his real genius may have been in the power of persuasion. By Ross Peters.

The 'Great Eastern' - Brunel's blueprint for decades of ship design
Stephenson's Rocket Animation - Inside the trailblazing steam engine
The Blast Furnace Animation - Inside the device that shaped the industrial revolution
The Spinning Mill Animation - Inside the machinery that revolutionised textiles
Winding Gear Animation - Inside this mechanism of the industrial age
The Beam Engine Animation - Inside the Victorian engine
Paddle Steamship Animation - Inside the engine of a paddle steamer
Iron Bridge Virtual Tour
The Iron Bridge - How was it Built? by David de Haan
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World by Deborah Cadbury
Panama Canal Gallery by Panama Canal Authority
The Airy Transit Circle by Emily Winterburn

Daily Life

Women's Work The ability to earn contributed to Victorian women's independence, but at what cost? By Professor Pat Hudson.

Tudors and Victorians: Dressing Up Can you sort out your stays from your stockings and your britches from your ruffs? Dress to impress with this costume game.

The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class by Dr Donna Loftus
Crime and the Victorians by Professor Clive Emsley
Victorian Mugshots Gallery by Steve Jones
London: 'A Modern Babylon' by Bruce Robinson
Sex, Drugs and Music Hall by Matthew Sweet
The Victorian Seaside by Professor John Walton
Victorian Sport: Playing by the Rules by Alex Perry
Beneath the Surface: Social Reports as Primary Sources by Joanne de Pennington
On the Beat in Birmingham by David Cross

Welfare and Health

Muck and Brass Make tough choices as you balance coffins and coins.

Foul Facts Gallery: Vile Victorians An offbeat look at the darker side of Victorian life. By Simon Cooper and illustrator Terry Deary.

The Rural Exodus - Migration to the towns, by Mike Winstanley
Victorian Medicine - From Fluke to Theory by Bruce Robinson
Florence Nightingale: the Lady with the Lamp by Mark Bostridge
The Foundling Hospital by Rhian Harris

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