This lively and intriguing study looks at the way sports both reflected and shaped Victorian society. Just as our own games have a lot to say about modern American culture, so sports are a prism through which we can gain valuable insights into Victorian society. The Sporting Life: Victorian Sports and Games is an engaging and perceptive account of how sport developed during Britain's heyday, who played (and who wasn't allowed to play), and what it all conveys about gender, race, imperialism, and national pride. Drawing extensively on 19th-century writings, The Sporting Life begins with a survey of sports in pre-Victorian England and the impact of industrialism in the early 19th century. We read of the effects of evangelicalism and utilitarianism, both of which first opposed sport, then used it for their own purposes. We learn of the association of sports with masculinity, an identification women challenged late in the century. Finally we learn how English sports became part of the imperial game, used to promote—and resist—the spread of Victoria's vast empire.

This book features the perspectives of contemporaries of Victorian political figure, Florence Nightingale, who saw in her life and career a legend in the making, one of greater depth and relevance than that created by the popular imagination.

This book is based on another powerful political figure of the nineteenth century - Millicent Garrett Fawcett. It illuminates the biography and career of Millicent, known by contemporaries principally for her commitment to women's suffrage and her particular approach to it.

This volume focuses on Annie Besant, an iconic female political figure from the Victorian era. It will be vital to those studying Nineteenth-Century Studies, Women's History, the History of Suffrage and the History of Nursing.

The third set in this successful series focuses on four iconic female political figures from the Victorian era: Queen Victoria (1819-1901), Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), Annie Besant (1847-1933) and Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929). Wide-ranging political issues are addressed such as women's suffrage, birth control and female education- contentious topics as women sought to improve their legal, educational, political, marital and economic status. Carefully selected extracts from biographies, memoirs, diaries, private letters and other ephemera reveal how these iconic women were viewed by their contemporaries.

This book is based on the most powerful political figure of the nineteenth century - Queen of England and Empress of India, Victoria Regina. It illuminates the biography and career of the queen by selecting and reprinting relevant extracts from rare contemporary sources.