Content area
Full Text
The Cambridge History of Victorian Literature RR 2013/225 Edited by Kate Flint Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2012 xv + 774 pp. ISBN 978 0 521 84625 7 £105 $190
The New Cambridge History of English Literature
Keywords English literature, History, Nineteenth century
Review DOI 10.1108/RR-05-2013-0122
One of the volumes that make up The New Cambridge History of English Literature this is the only one to have been named after a monarch. Despite the fact that naming a period of literature in this way is problematic, not least because it restricts the literature which can be included and may even serve to split the works of certain authors who fall both within and without its remit, the label has been applied and it has endured. Among the reasons for labelling a period of literature by its monarch is that the reign of Victoria was so long. Furthermore it was prosperous, promoting much literature resulting from and reflecting the many changes in society, law and politics. Great poets, playwrights and authors were born and wrote during the reign of Victoria, all of these and more are considered and discussed in this volume.
Literature is a broad term, encompassing many genres of writing and as such the six sections forming this book start with Authors, Readers and Publishers, contextualising the writing, its dissemination and its consumption during the Victorian period. Each of these factors is bound up with...