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  • Experts

Victorian Britain

Most Recommended Books

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

“What the rest of Great Expectations shows is that having Christmas lasting all the way through your life might not be a good thing. Having a Santa Claus figure who keeps throwing gifts and money at you when they’re not necessarily wanted or deserved might be a handicap.”

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Literary Scholar

Read more

    The best books on Dickens and Christmas, recommended by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

  • Read
    The best books on Dickens and Christmas - A Christmas Carol: And Other Stories by Charles Dickens

    1

    A Christmas Carol: And Other Stories
    by Charles Dickens

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    The best books on Dickens and Christmas - The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

    2

    The Pickwick Papers
    by Charles Dickens

  • Read
    The best books on Dickens and Christmas - What Christmas Is As We Grow Older by Charles Dickens

    3

    What Christmas Is As We Grow Older
    by Charles Dickens

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    The best books on Dickens and Christmas - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    4

    Great Expectations
    by Charles Dickens

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    The best books on Dickens and Christmas - The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens

    5

    The Mystery of Edwin Drood
    by Charles Dickens

The best books on Dickens and Christmas, recommended by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

When it was published on December 19th, 1843, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol was an instant classic. As families settle in front of the fire to read it aloud on Christmas Eve, Oxford Professor of English Literature Robert Douglas-Fairhurst runs through the best of Dickens’s prolific writings about Christmas.

    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals, recommended by Harriet Ritvo

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    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals - The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

    1

    The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals
    by Charles Darwin

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    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals - Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science by Donna J Haraway

    2

    Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science
    by Donna J Haraway

  • Read
    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals - Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo by Nigel Rothfels

    3

    Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo
    by Nigel Rothfels

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    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals - Dolly Mixtures: The Remaking of Genealogy by Sarah Franklin

    4

    Dolly Mixtures: The Remaking of Genealogy
    by Sarah Franklin

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    The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals - Beastly Natures: Animals, Humans, and the Study of History by Dorothee Brantz

    5

    Beastly Natures: Animals, Humans, and the Study of History
    by Dorothee Brantz

The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals, recommended by Harriet Ritvo

Animals have played a significant role in human history, and the manner by which we interpret their behaviour says a lot about our own culture and social mores. Harriet Ritvo, professor of history at MIT, selects five of the best books from the field of animal history.

    David Russell on The Victorian Essay

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    David Russell on The Victorian Essay - Selected Prose by Charles Lamb

    1

    Selected Prose
    by Charles Lamb

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    David Russell on The Victorian Essay - Culture and Anarchy and Other Writings by Matthew Arnold

    2

    Culture and Anarchy and Other Writings
    by Matthew Arnold

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    David Russell on The Victorian Essay - Selected Essays, Poems, and Other Writings by George Eliot

    3

    Selected Essays, Poems, and Other Writings
    by George Eliot

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    David Russell on The Victorian Essay - Studies in the History of the Renaissance by Walter Pater

    4

    Studies in the History of the Renaissance
    by Walter Pater

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    David Russell on The Victorian Essay - The Hands of the Living God: An Account of a Psychoanalytic Treatment by Marion Milner

    5

    The Hands of the Living God: An Account of a Psychoanalytic Treatment
    by Marion Milner

David Russell on The Victorian Essay

With the advent of the Victorian age, polite maxims of eighteenth-century essays in the Spectator were replaced by a new generation of writers who thought deeply—and playfully—about social relationships, moral responsibility, education and culture. Here, Oxford literary critic David Russell explores the distinct qualities that define the Victorian essay and recommends five of its greatest practitioners.

    The best books on Oscar Wilde, recommended by Sos Eltis

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    The best books on Oscar Wilde - The Soul of Man Under Socialism by Oscar Wilde

    1

    The Soul of Man Under Socialism
    by Oscar Wilde

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    The best books on Oscar Wilde - The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays by Oscar Wilde

    2

    The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays
    by Oscar Wilde

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    The best books on Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

    3

    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    by Oscar Wilde

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    The best books on Oscar Wilde - The Complete Short Stories by Oscar Wilde

    4

    The Complete Short Stories
    by Oscar Wilde

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    The best books on Oscar Wilde - De Profundis by Oscar Wilde

    5

    De Profundis
    by Oscar Wilde

The best books on Oscar Wilde, recommended by Sos Eltis

Oscar Wilde cultivated an image of himself as an idle genius, dashing off masterpieces with a lazy brilliance. But below the glittering linguistic surface of his works, suggests Sos Eltis, lies an anarchic politics and a phenomenal analysis of power.

    The Best Horror Stories, recommended by Darryl Jones

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    The Best Horror Stories - The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen

    1

    The Great God Pan
    by Arthur Machen

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    The Best Horror Stories - The Island of Doctor Moreau by H G Wells

    2

    The Island of Doctor Moreau
    by H G Wells

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    The Best Horror Stories - Collected Ghost Stories by MR James

    3

    Collected Ghost Stories
    by MR James

  • Read
    The Best Horror Stories - Dracula by Bram Stoker

    4

    Dracula
    by Bram Stoker

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    The Best Horror Stories - The King in Yellow by Robert W Chambers

    5

    The King in Yellow
    by Robert W Chambers

The Best Horror Stories, recommended by Darryl Jones

Why was 1897 such a great year for horror? How did Charles Darwin’s discoveries impact the genre? Trinity College, Dublin professor Darryl Jones selects some of the best of the genre—and discusses why we find these stories so fascinating.

    The Best Charles Dickens Books, recommended by Jenny Hartley

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    The Best Charles Dickens Books - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

    1

    David Copperfield
    by Charles Dickens

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    The Best Charles Dickens Books - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    2

    Great Expectations
    by Charles Dickens

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    The Best Charles Dickens Books - Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin

    3

    Charles Dickens: A Life
    by Claire Tomalin

  • Read
    The Best Charles Dickens Books - The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens by Jenny Hartley

    4

    The Selected Letters of Charles Dickens
    by Jenny Hartley

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    The Best Charles Dickens Books - Palgrave Advances in Charles Dickens Studies by John Bowen and Robert I. Patten

    5

    Palgrave Advances in Charles Dickens Studies
    by John Bowen and Robert I. Patten

The Best Charles Dickens Books, recommended by Jenny Hartley

He was the most popular novelist of the Victorian era, a convivial family man who always championed the underdog. But he also harboured dark secrets that only came out after his death. Jenny Hartley recommends the best books by and about Charles Dickens and discusses Dickens the phenomenon, past and present.

    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins, recommended by Jason Hall

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    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins - Rambles Beyond Railways by Wilkie Collins

    1

    Rambles Beyond Railways
    by Wilkie Collins

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    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins - The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

    2

    The Woman in White
    by Wilkie Collins

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    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

    3

    The Moonstone
    by Wilkie Collins

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    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins - Poor Miss Finch by Wilkie Collins

    4

    Poor Miss Finch
    by Wilkie Collins

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    The Best Books by Wilkie Collins - Heart and Science by Wilkie Collins

    5

    Heart and Science
    by Wilkie Collins

The Best Books by Wilkie Collins, recommended by Jason Hall

Wilkie Collins, the sensationalist author and inventor of the detective novel, knew precisely how to “make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em wait”. Jason Hall, Victorian literature expert and editor of a new edition of Jezebel’s Daughter, chooses the five best books from Collins’s extensive oeuvre – and considers the voracious appetites and unorthodox lifestyle of this intriguing Englishman.

    The best books on Sherlock Holmes, recommended by Michael Dirda

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    The best books on Sherlock Holmes - A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    1

    A Study in Scarlet
    by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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    The best books on Sherlock Holmes - The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    2

    The Complete Sherlock Holmes
    by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  • Read
    The best books on Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    3

    The Hound of the Baskervilles
    by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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    The best books on Sherlock Holmes - The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    4

    The Lost World
    by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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    The best books on Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle by D Stashower & C Foley & J Lellenberg

    5

    Arthur Conan Doyle
    by D Stashower & C Foley & J Lellenberg

The best books on Sherlock Holmes, recommended by Michael Dirda

Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and four novels starring his fictional sleuth. Michael Dirda – Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, writer and lifelong Sherlockian – gives us his personal choice of the best Sherlock Holmes books and tells us more about their creator.

    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age, recommended by Judith Flanders

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    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age - Becoming Dickens by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

    1

    Becoming Dickens
    by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

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    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age - The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period by William St Clair

    2

    The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period
    by William St Clair

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    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age - Disenchanted Night by Wolfgang Schivelbusch

    3

    Disenchanted Night
    by Wolfgang Schivelbusch

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    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age - Victorian Studies in Scarlet by Richard D Altick

    4

    Victorian Studies in Scarlet
    by Richard D Altick

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    The best books on Life in the Victorian Age - Victorian Comfort by John Gloag

    5

    Victorian Comfort
    by John Gloag

The best books on Life in the Victorian Age, recommended by Judith Flanders

History books often focus on big political or economic events, wars and leaders. But there’s much to learn from studying the way people lived, and what made the Victorian age both like and unlike our own, as Judith Flanders explains.

    The Best Victorian Novels, recommended by John Sutherland

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    The Best Victorian Novels - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    1

    Great Expectations
    by Charles Dickens

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    The Best Victorian Novels - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

    2

    Vanity Fair
    by William Makepeace Thackeray

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    The Best Victorian Novels - Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

    3

    Barchester Towers
    by Anthony Trollope

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    The Best Victorian Novels - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

    4

    Jane Eyre
    by Charlotte Brontë

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    The Best Victorian Novels - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

    5

    Wuthering Heights
    by Emily Brontë

The Best Victorian Novels, recommended by John Sutherland

The Victorian era was a golden age for fiction, says Victorian literature specialist John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. He talks us through the some of the best novels written during the Victorian period, and what they reveal about the people who wrote them.

    The best books on Victorian Adventures, recommended by Stephen Evans

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    The best books on Victorian Adventures - London in the Nineteenth Century by Jerry White

    1

    London in the Nineteenth Century
    by Jerry White

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    The best books on Victorian Adventures - The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic by Steven Johnson

    2

    The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic
    by Steven Johnson

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    The best books on Victorian Adventures - The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk

    3

    The Great Game
    by Peter Hopkirk

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    The best books on Victorian Adventures - Kim by Rudyard Kipling

    4

    Kim
    by Rudyard Kipling

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    The best books on Victorian Adventures - The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers

    5

    The Riddle of the Sands
    by Erskine Childers

The best books on Victorian Adventures, recommended by Stephen Evans

High Commissioner to Bangladesh chooses books on the defining moments of 19th-century Britain and describes the game of exploration & espionage played out by Britain and Russia in the 19th century

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