A Year in the Life of Victorian Britain, Felicity Trotman

Queen Victoria reigned for sixty-four years, and in those years Britain changed enormously. Not only were there many scientific and technological advances, such as the spread of railways, a transatlantic telegraph cable and Darwin's theories on the origins of man, but there were also momentous social and cultural developments, including the advancement of women's education and the founding of charities. This was all set against a backdrop of vast wealth and appalling poverty, devastating famine and war, and the contrast of life in huge city slums and changing country landscapes.