How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life

I DVRed all the PBS episodes of Victoria and read this book in preparation to binge watch them. I must say, this book just sucked all of the romanticism out of being alive during the Victorian era. I have long been fascinated by this time period and I am partial to fiction and historical fiction set during the bulk of the 1800's. After reading this book, I realize that I would only like to be a wealthy Victorian but even that has some serious drawbacks. How to Be a Victorian is truly a dawn to dusk guide to life during the reign of Queen Victoria. This is a very well researched book with a lot of detail. The chapters take you from waking in the morning, hygiene, clothing and fashion, work, leisure, exercise, food, education, medical care, and bedtime. Ms. Goodman further breaks this down into an explanation of how these activities and daily rituals vary for the different social classes and the sexes. She also discusses social and economic changes across the period of Victoria's reign. The book is aided by drawings and photos, though the author's written descriptions are quite thorough. Additionally, Ms. Goodman writes from the perspective of a person who has actually recreated the Victorian experience. She has even gone so far as to inflict this experience on her young daughter! She is taking history and research to another level, which adds to the realism. I did debate about how to rate this book. I was going to rate it four stars because parts of the book were a bit too detailed for me and I found myself skimming the bits that did not interest me as much. Personally, I was not that interested in transportation or industry. However, I really loved the detail dedicated to clothing, education, and medicine. Therefore, I decided to rate it five stars for overall information and research. The writing style was excellent and engaging. If you have any interest in the Victorian era, this is a great book and it will enhance your reading of other books set during that time period.

Great book - I don't know why it's getting knocked for too much detail...'dawn to dusk' kind of implies it's looking at the minutiae of everyday Victorian life, doesn't it?? I think the BEST PART is the commentary that Ms. Goodman inserts into every section/portion of the day. For everyone who has ever read history & then asked "I wonder what it was like to use an outhouse in the winter??" or "what would it be like to lace tightly into a corset, every day, no matter what you were doing?" or "just how bad was it to wash clothes with tubs and mangles?" - well...read this book to hear from one who has!! It was amazing - so many of us history buffs wish we could 'go back for a while & live in that time' - Ms. Goodman has done it!! Her research is spot on, her 'user' commentary is thoughtful and realistic - this was a fun book to read & one of those books that you look forward to when enough time passes so that you can read it again!! I was able to live vicariously through Ruth Goodman's experience and I'm very thankful that she shared it with us! I will definitely read more of what she writes!!

Would have been 5 stars had she not provided so much detail. Best thing about the author is that she actually tried to live replications of what her Victorian subjects had to live through. That is truly honest and thorough journalism. A lot of skimming makes for a much better read. Well worth it for anyone who wants to know more about what life was really like for their favorite authors and the characters they created from Austen and the Brontes through Hardy and Dickens to Wilde and Shaw. She is always careful to illustrate the differences between what the lowest to uppermost classes had to suffer through. Life was much shorter, especially for birthing women and workers in dangerous workplaces, for instance. But it made little difference if you were upper class or lower class when the dangers of giving birth were generally fairly equal. Class made the most difference when one was able to hire someone else to do their wash and cook their meals. This book makes today's reader joyful and thankful for little things like microwave ovens, flushing toilets, tap water, and frozen food. Imagine living before anyone realized germs caused diseases and infection. Lower class children all started working 10 to 12 hour days at age five or six and looked forward to being old enough to work 16 hours at least six days a week, every week until they died. First child labor law around 1830 limited work hours for those 10 and under to 8 hours a day, six days a week 52 weeks a year. Extremely difficult to comprehend and truly makes us thankful. But unless we try to do something about it, there are and always will be places in the world that still function as if it were still the Victorian Age in England.

Oh my goodness, I loved this book. I was looking for more insight into the day-to-day life of people in the era, and this was perfect. Seriously amazing. Written by a lady who not only knows the history, politics, and social issues of the era, she also happens to do a lot of historical recreation, so she has hands-on knowledge of a lot of the everyday things she talks about. For example, in one chapter she talks about clothes, and she goes not only into detail of what the clothes were but how they were made and what they feel like to wear, which was fascinating. If you're interested in what life was like in the 1800s this is the perfect book for you. I've read quite a few, and this is by far the best. It was both comprehensive in painting a broad picture of the era and going down into detail about the minutia that affected people back then from the perspective of someone who has hands-on experience. Just awesome! Though a quick side note: If I had to give any criticism of the book is that there are no footnotes or citations for her information, which I would have liked to see. It's clear she did a ton of research for it, but there's nothing listed for the reader's benefit. She often quotes people from the era, so she's not speaking off-the-cuff or making things up, but it would have been nice to have those references. Honestly, of all the non-fiction books I've read, this one feels the most authentic, well-researched, and accurate as it pulls from real-world sources like journals and letters, so not having the sources cited doesn't bother me.

I received this book as a gift but despite the fact that the giver might see my review, I give it candidly below... * An exceptionally intricate look at life as a Victorian. And not just the random rot about when the Rich get up in the morning and how they do their hair. No, this is the gritty detail of how the parlor maid brushes her teeth or takes a bath. The common life of the common man. * Not just about how THEY did it but also how YOU can do it. This is the bit that surprised me most. The author didn't just look this stuff up. No, no indeed. She TRIED it herself. She outlines well the possible benefits and pitfalls of such practices and encourages the reader to take a stab at them too. * In summary, very detailed and very intricately woven. I'm not looking to try any of these myself but it was sure delightful reading about them. This has put me on an entire reading binge of just this sort of novel and there are plenty from which to choose.

“How to be a Victorian” is an excellent voyage through the 19th century. Few narratives of history can create the feel of an action-packed thriller, as this book does. Stating that it was very well-researched and written is not enough: the book has integrity. Using ‘a day in the life’ as the platform for immense research and hands-on experience brought life during those times into real time. But the depth of the author’s documentation and the sheer breadth of cultural, economic, political, and social mores brought to the reader is astounding. Anyone today who thinks they have cause to complain about their lives as meagre or deficient should know about the poor and downtrodden during Victorian times, the stark reality of being anyone other than royalty or wealthy, with starvation, bleak existence, and no hope for a better life throughout decades and generations. The authors gentle retelling of familial duty of labor, regardless of age, breaks the heart, particularly one example: citing 6-yr old William Arnold, who, to help his family earn money with which they would still starve, his job being to stand in a field during even the coldest of months – January - from dawn till dusk scaring crows, without any food, and at night walking home after dark, for literally a bite of bread and water. The wretchedness is unimaginable. “How to be a Victorian” is truly a tour to be taken.

I fell in love with Ruth Goodman’s style from the very first page. Perhaps because I’ve watched many of the video series she has been part of, I was able to sense her personality in the writing; her curiosity and enthusiasm shine through in a way I don’t typically notice with other authors. How to be a Victorian (HtbaV) walks you through what could be a typical day, from first waking to going to sleep, with detours along the way. These detours explore how different classes would experience various activities, how activities and beliefs evolved throughout the nearly 64 years of the Victorian era, ways that certain ideas or activities inspired changes further into the future, etc. Ms. Goodman doesn’t shy away from the many unsavory aspects of Victorian England. Everything from the myriad of inequalities to disease are covered, not necessarily in detail, but with enough information for you to be happy you weren’t a Victorian. But, she also includes interesting, innocuous tidbits that often provide an even deeper look into Victorian society. Some of my favorites include: * “If a young woman worked in service, she would often be given clothes by her mistress… such movement of clothes was so common that people were accustomed to seeing poorer members of society dressed in slightly worn clothes and in fashions that were a few years out of date… if you failed to keep up with [fashion], you were in danger of looking like a servant.” * “A beggar who looked like a working person with worn but ‘decent’ clothes generally took far more money than one who was dressed in tatters. People understood and sympathized with someone temporarily down on their luck, but for a beggar without respectable clothing there was no respect.” * “Mascara was the other name given to these colored moustache waxes. Mascara is still widely available, of course, even though it is not used by women for their eyelashes, rather than by men.” * “For many people, their first encounter with both the electric light and the WC was at their local railway station…” * “Boys were some of the first people to be clothed by the ready-to-wear market.” * “To be unable to sew was unthinkable — comparable to being unable to use a phone in the twenty-first century… The level of skill considered ‘normal’ and wholly unremarkable was higher than that of many twenty-first-century textile professionals.” * “One pub for every thirty houses was not unusual in working-class districts.” * “The earliest public-bath buildings were often connected to a laundry room…” * “Impotence was generally understood as the result of previous overindulgence in sex.” While I don’t agree with The New Yorker‘s comment that this book “makes you feel as if you could pass as a native,” it does provide a lot of interesting details I didn’t know before reading it. If you have any interest in history at all, I highly suggest HtbaV.

A really splendid book of lived ethnography. How did one dress in the Victorian period? What kind of rugs were on the floor? What did one eat? How and how often did one bathe? Particularly impressive is that she sees the Victorian period as dynamic with major changes in life throughout the period, often for the better. The one disappointment was the one chapter that should have been a can't miss: the chapter on sexuality. But though it is filled with data on prostitution, there is, unlike the other chapters, nothing or next to it on ordinary sexuality across the classes: what positions; how often; homosexuality; public schools; were there affairs, and if so how were they managed in houses filled with servants at all but the lowest levels. I don't expect the author to have "enacted" these practices as she did so many others (laundry day! Thank god for washers and dryers!) but she could have told us a lot more. Generally incredibly informative. Compares very favorably to, for instance, Bryson's book on Houses.

He terminado de leer el libro y estoy encantada. Me hizo abrir los ojos respecto a la visión “romantizada” que solía tener sobre esa época. Me gusta cómo la autora aborda distintos aspectos y pensamientos de la vida de las clases sociales de aquella época. Lo que está escrito aquí no lo encontrarás en los libros de historia de la escuela. Me hizo querer aprender más sobre la época victoriana. Los únicos puntos en contra de este libro son la tapa del libro,es demasiado delgada y fácilmente se puede maltratar (aunque yo también tengo la culpa por llevarlo a todas partes con tal de leerlo). Y que durante la lectura muchas veces ,a pesar de las descripciones que brindaba la autora sobre ciertos objetos ,ropas,etc ,yo no lograba comprender exactamente cómo podrían haber sido y tuve que recurrir varias veces a Google porque mi imaginación no me ayudaba. Me hubiera gustado que se hubieran incluido más imágenes para una mejor comprensión en cuanto a las descripciones detalladas (hubiera sido muchísimo más fácil ya que además mi primer idioma no es el Inglés ) Pero aún así recomiendo a todos los interesados en este tema que no duden en comprarlo,no se van a arrepentir . Ya forma parte de mi coleccion de libros predilectos.

How to Be a Victorian" è scritto davvero benissimo! L'autrice riesce a trasportare il lettore in un'epoca affascinante con un linguaggio fluido e coinvolgente. La sua capacità di rendere accessibili anche i dettagli più complessi della vita vittoriana è straordinaria. È evidente che l’autrice ha una profonda conoscenza del periodo e un talento unico nel raccontarlo. In un certo senso, la potrei paragonare a un "Alessandro Barbero britannico", tanto è abile nel rendere la storia viva e interessante, con una narrazione che stimola la curiosità e la riflessione. Ogni pagina è una scoperta e ogni capitolo ti fa desiderare di sapere di più. Un libro che consiglio caldamente a chiunque sia interessato a immergersi nella storia e nella cultura vittoriana! Qualità:⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ /5 Prezzo:⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ /5 Lettura: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ /5 Voto Finale:⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ /5

Wer sich für das Viktorianische Zeitalter interessiert, kommt an Ruth Goodman, der Autorin dieses Buches, nicht vorbei. Die Britin ist freiberufliche Historikerin und auf das oben genannte Zeitalter spezialisiert. Ich habe schon einige BBC-Dokumentationen zu diesem Thema gesehen, die meisten von und mit Ruth Goodman und auch auf YouTube tummelt sich die Dame. Sie hat auf einer Viktorianischen Farm gelebt, ohne Annehmlichkeiten des heutigen Zeitalters, hat gekocht, genäht und sich in enge Korsetts gezwängt und dies nicht nur für eine Woche, sondern für ein ganzes Jahr. Genauso fesselnd und faszinierend wie diese Dokumentationen, liest sich dieses Buch, in dem man in alle Aspekte dieser Epoche Einblick erhält - in Tagesablauf, Kleidung, Arbeit, Essen, etc., und das nicht nur der gut betuchten Gesellschaft, sondern ebenso der hart arbeitenden und ärmlichen Bevölkerung - vom Tagesanbruch an, bis hin zur Schlafenszeit. Dieses Buch verdient eine ausführliche Vorstellung, also Ladies, schnallt Eure Korsetts fester, Gentlemen, richtet Eure Bowlers, denn hier taucht man in das wahre viktorianische Zeitalter ein. "As the 1850s slipped into the 1860s, the pressure to show oneself possessed of a small waist continued to build. The old home-made corsets began to dwindle away as more people turned to professionally made equivalents that could enable them to attain a more fashinoable shape. This was the age of the corset horror story." (S. 67) ♛♛♛ Kapiteleinteilung 1) Getting Up Der Tag beginnt und man erwacht im viktorianischen Zeitalter. Man erhält Einblick in die Morgenroutine der verschiedenen Gesellschaftsschichten, in die Benutzung verschiedener Alltagsgegenstände, in Hygiene und dem Wissensstand bezüglich dieser in der damaligen Zeit und sogar in die Damenhygiene für die gewissen Tage. 2) Getting Dressed Kleider machen Leute und in diesem Fall die viktorianischen Männer, Frauen und Kinder, die Armen und die Reichen. Von der Unterwäsche angefangen, über die unzähligen Schichten, Dresscodes, die Kleidungspflege, bis hin zu Hüten, Schuhen und die rasch wechselnde Mode. Habt IHr z.B. gewusst, dass auch Männer Korsetts trugen als die schmale Taille auch für die Männer angesagt war? 3) A Trip to the Privy Auch der morgendliche Gang zur Toilette wird nicht vergessen. Über die verschiedenen Arten von Toiletten, die Jakesmen und den großen Gestank von 1858, etc. 4) Personal Grooming Hier wird gecremt, geschminkt, gefärbt, frisiert und Bleaching war auch damals schon der letzte Schrei. Bart- und Frisurentrends, welche im Laufe dieses Zeitalters sehr rasch wechselten, werden hier ebenfalls thematisiert und noch vieles mehr. Wenn man damals als Lady gelten wollte, mussten sogar die Fingernägel ein ganz bestimmtes Aussehen haben (inkl. des weißen Halbmondes). "Bonnets were so last year; hats were hot!" (S. 114) 5) Morning Exercice Die Lieglingssportarten der Viktorianer, wobei natürlich ein massiver Unterschied zwischen der Sportarten von Männer und Frauen bestand. 6) Breakfast Wer wann was wo frühstückte, wie es sich für Mann, Frau, Ober-, Mittel- und Unter-Schicht gestaltete, sowohl in Nord-, als auch in Süd-England, Anfang, mitte und Ende dieser Aera. Hier gab es reichlich Unterschiede. Man erfährt auch interessante Fakten über die Handhabung eines Kohleofens, aber auch über die große Hungersnot in Irland in den 1840ern und die Entstehung der Suppenküchen. 7) The Main Business of the Day Hier erhält man Einblick in die hart arbeitende Bevölkerungsschicht. Vom Weg in die Arbeit, die öffentlichen Transportmittel, über die Gefahr am Arbeitsplatz, Kinderarbeit und allgemein über das neblige London. 8) Back at the House Von Nachttöpfen, Babypflege und Kinderkleidung. Ja, selbst für Babys gab es bezüglich der Kleidung einen Dresscode. Hier werden auch wieder die Unterschiede zwischen der gut situierten und ärmlichen Bevölkerung thematisiert und so mancher Glaube bezüglich der Babypflege stellt einem die Nackenhaare auf. "With no time [...] and few resources, they resorted to laying a piece of oilcloth in a cradle next to a handful straw or another easily disposable absorbent. The bare-bottomed baby was then laid straight into the cradle." (S. 215) 9) The Midday Meal Was kam bei den Viktorianern auf den Mittagstisch, falls überhaupt etwas auf den Tisch kam und was aßen die Arbeiter in der Mittagspause? 10) The Day's Work Resumes Hier wird Wäsche gewaschen, was dazumal fast eine eigene Wissenschaft war. Man erhält Einblick in die häusliche Krankenpflege und somit erfährt man auch vieles über die gefährlichen Krankheiten, wie z.B. Cholera. Auch die damals so verbreitete "weibliche Hysterie" ist ein Thema. 11) Meanwhile, for the Young, There was School Während die Männer in Fabriken und die Frauen zu Hause schufteten, mussten die Kinder die Schulbank drücken..zumindest manche. Wie sah so ein Unterricht aus, wer durfte unterrichten, wie entwickelte sich das Schulsystem im 19. Jahrhundert und was hatte die Menstruation mit der Schulbildung zu tun? Dies und noch viel mehr erfährt man in diesem Kapitel. 12) A Few Snatched Hours of Leisure Mit dem Industriezeitalter kam auch für viele Arbeiter die Freizeit. Hier liest man wie Männer und Frauen diese gestalteten - Sportarten, Picknicks, Kinderspiele und wie Frauen es schafften in voller Montur baden zu gehen, etc. 13) The Evening Meal In diesem Kapitel bewegt man sich vom Anfang bis zum Ende des viktorianischen Zeitalters. Dabei erhält man Einblick in die Kochtöpfe der verschiedenen Gesellschaftsschichten und sieht daran wie groß die Unterschiede und Möglichkeiten waren. Ernährungslehre und Diäten waren auch damals schon en vogue. 14) A Bath before Bed Damit sind nicht nur hygienische Bäder nach der Arbeit gemeint, sondern vor allem Gesundheitsbäder. Diesbezüglich waren die Viktorianer äußerst erfindungsreich - Hauptsache es war teuer. Die Hydrotherapie nahm hier ihren Anfang. 15) Behind the Bedroom Door Hier wird es schlüpfrig. Thematisiert werden die Sexualität von Männern und Frauen, Masturbation, Homosexualität, Verhütungsmittel, Prostitution, Moral und sexuelles Verlangen und so mancher irre Aberglaube. Das es Frauen schwer hatten war mir bekannt, doch auch die Männer hatten es damals nicht immer ganz leicht. "A long interval between the wedding day and the first pregnancy was therefore interpreted as the result of too much sex in the first, passionate phase of marriage, which overstretched the man's ability to produce high-quality sperm." (S. 409) In diesen Kapiteln erhält man des Öfteren Einblick in verschiedene Rezepte, inklusive Zusammenstellung und die Autorin berichtet von ihren Erlebnissen und Erfahrungen in all diesen verschiedenen Bereichen. Dies alles erfolgt in einem flüssigen Schreibstil und einer fesselnden Erzählweise, bei der die Autorin auch ihren Humor einfließen lässt. Fazit: Dieses Buch ist für mich eines meiner Lesehighlights. Ich war während des Lesens regelrecht gefesselt und wollte am liebsten nie mehr daraus auftauchen. Das passiert schon mal bei Romanen, aber eher selten bei Sachbüchern. Hier blickt man nämlich in das wirkliche Leben der Viktorianer und eben auch in sehr private und intime Bereiche. Für jeden Interessierten der viktorianischen Epoche, ist dieses Buch ein absolutely Must-Have und Ihr werdet es nicht bereuen. © Pink Anemone

الغلاف ورق + لايحتوي صور كثير كله دش كلام وغير صلب

Fabulous detail - never boring - on each page, giving a comprehensive, intimate view into the lives of Victorians, from the very poorest to the wealthiest nobility. Every aspect of a typical day is covered, as well as attitudes and beliefs, morals and laws, medicine and inventions. I thought my knowledge of this era was pretty solid based on other reading and PBS programs, but this book really opened my eyes. Photos, illustrations and period ads help illustrate the author's excellent writing. Highly recommended.