Victorian Studies in Scarlet - Murders and Manners in the Age of Victoria

In the first chapters, Mr. Altick examines the Victorian delight in murder as a social phenomenon. The remainder of the book is constructed around classic murder cases that afford a vivid perspective on the way people lived--and died--in the Age of Victoria.

From the beginning of the age, homicide was a national entertainment. Penny broadsheets hawked in the streets highlighted the most gruesome features of crimes; newspapers recounted the most minute details, from the discovery of the body to the execution of the criminal. Real-life murders were quickly adapted for the gaslight melodrama and the bestselling novels of the "Newgate" and "sensation" schools. Murder scenes and celebrities were the most popular exhibits at Madame Tussaud's waxworks and in the touring peepshows and marionette entertainments.

Murder, in fact, was a crimson thread running through the whole fabric of Victorian life. By tracing this thread in "not too solemn a spirit," Mr. Altick has written a book that will delight and inform all who are interested in social history, as well as that great number who relish true murder stories.

Product details

• Authors: Richard D. Altick, Altick Richard D.
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 18.06.2025, delayed
• EAN: 9780393336245
• ISBN: 978-0-393-33624-5
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; Social sciences, law, business > Law > Criminal law, criminal procedural law, criminology; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, True Crime, European History, TRUE CRIME / General, HISTORY / World, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Violence in Society, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / Victorian Era (1837-1901), c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, General & world history, British & Irish history, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Violence in society, General and world history, Violence and abuse in society