'Kilvert's World of Wonders' focuses upon the life of the
endearingly humble clergyman Francis Kilvert, who is best known for
the Diary which records his sensitive descriptions of rural life in
the nineteenth century. Until recently Kilvert was considered
naive, lacking in confidence, and parochial in outlook, most at
home in the country cottage or the country vicarage. In this
volume, however, Toman reveals Kilvert as a sophisticated thinker
in touch with metropolitan culture and fascinated by the
technological progress of his age. He marveled at railways,
shipyards, and the machinery of the Great Exhibition, and explored
the theories of mesmerism and evolution. Toman makes his customary
careful reading of the 'Diary', demonstrated in his previous study
'Kilvert's Diary and Landscape' (The Lutterworth Press, 2009), but
also delves into Kilvert's family background, education and
childhood reading, and into the diaries of his sister Emily, to
shed light on previously unacknowledged aspects of Kilvert's
personality. In this perceptive revaluation of Kilvert's character
and outlook, Toman introduces us to a man who sought to understand
the great changes of the mid-nineteenth century, and so come to
terms with what was becoming the world of today. John Toman spent
thirty years in education as a teacher, lecturer, and schools
inspector. For many years, he has read and re-read 'Kilvert's
Diary' and walked 'Kilvert Country'. During the last twenty years,
he has made an intensive study of the 'Diary' and of Kilvert's
background, he is the author of 'Kilvert's Diary and Landscape'
(2008). 'Toman's study reveals Kilvert to have been a man who 'had
the curiosity and courage to face the age's difficult questions'.
The book's thorough and scholarly approach will ensure that it
remains an indispensable tool to all those who wish to understand
him and the forces which shaped him.' Dr Martin Crossley Evans,
University of Bristol 'Toman completes here a thorough reassessment
of the literary, cultural and theological influences on Kilvert,
bringing us closer than ever before to his character. Meticulously
researched and written in a clear, engaging style, the book
foregrounds the diarist's complex and ambivalent relationship with
the rapidly developing climate of the mid-nineteenth century.' Dr
Philip Dunham, University of Coventry
General
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