Nicholas Travers’ Victorian Britain Day by Day is quick interest read with anecdotes spreading the time period of the Victoria era broken down by days marked by interesting events. It does not just involve important, well known events, but smaller ones that get missed most often by historians and those who study history. Travers presents these points in a very interesting and readable style.

I highly recommend this book for fans of Victorian history whether well educated or just beginning your journey into this time period. Facts are well presented and consumable.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the advanced reader copy.

Jan 1
1859 - Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman recorded on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council.

Jan 5
1886 - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson was published.

Jan 7
1869 - The Amateur Swimming Association was established in London.

Jan 10
1863 - The London Underground opens to the public between Paddington and Farringdon.

Jan 12
1895 - Social reformer Octavia Hill, along with Reverend Hardwicke Rawnsley and lawyer Sir Robert Hunter, joined forces to form the National Trust.

Jan 14
1878 - Alexander Graham Bell rang the Queen on the telephone, marking the first long-distance public telephone call in British history.

1895 - The Diglake Colliery Disaster occurred at the Audley colliery. A flood of water rushed into the mine and killed 77 miners.

Jan 15
1867 - Regent's Park Skating Disaster occurred when 40 people died either from hypothermia or drowning after the ice broke on the lake in London's Regent's Park.

Jan 20
1853 - The Royal Photographic Society was founded.

Jan 22
1901 - Queen Victoria dies.

Jan 25
1851 - The first segment of Charles Dickens' A Child's History of England was published. It was very popular and influential and was on the educational curriculum.

Jan 27
1855 - British nurse and businesswoman Mary Seacole went to the Crimean War with the plan of establishing a hotel for injured British officers.

Jan 28
1896 - Walter Arnold became the first person to be caught speeding in a motorised vehicle.

Jan 29
1856 - Victoria Cross award is established for valour.

Feb 7
1865 - The first edition of the popular magazine The Pall Mall Gazette was published.

Feb 14
1852 - Great Ormond Street Hospital is opened.

Feb 15
1848 - The Caledonian Railway opened, connecting Scotland and England.

Feb 21
1848- The Communist Manifesto is published in London.

1896 - The first public screening of a film in Britain took place at the Polytechnic Institute in central London.

Many births, deaths, marriages, achievements, and disasters occurred. It's impossible to do all of them justice here. While a lot has changed between now and then, some things still remained the same.

In this fascinating and detailed history book, Travers brings Victorian England to life in his latest book. Each chapter focuses on a month of the Western year, and each chapter contains every single day on the calendar followed by a few facts and events which occurred on that particular day during the Victorian era in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. With many dates containing multiple significant events, this book presents a variety of types of events from the period from famous ones -- like the births, deaths, and marriages of members of the royal family to the mapping of cholera or important legislation bills. With quick, digestible synopses of the events, this is a great primer and introduction to Victorian England for history novices and for more familiar readers. The information in this book is not overwhelming, and the variety of events and details is incredibly interesting and keeps readers engaged. The variety of historical figures and events introduces readers to more of the Victorian era and allows them to use this book as a starting point for further research. A comprehensive introduction to the Victorian era, this is an interesting, uniquely formatted, and engaging read for all history lovers.

Princess Fuzzypants here: This is an interesting and highly entertaining book that looks at the calendar and then puts in a couple of events that occurred on that day during the reign of Victoria. There is no clear pattern as the stories bop all over the years from her Coronation to her death. It records births and deaths and various events. When describing a death, there is often background information about the person and what contribution they had made. When it was a birth, they would fast forward to the future when the impact of the person is felt. There is no rhyme nor reason that I can suss out but that just makes it an enjoyable hodgepodge of trivia and facts.

That kind of book appeals greatly to me, It is also the kind of book that can be picked up and read in spurts. There is no narrative of which to keep track.
You can pop in and out at leisure. Five purrs and two paws up.

Victorian Britain Day by Day by Nicholas Travers is a highly entrertaining, engaging and immersive journey through the lives and times of people in this pivotal era in british soceity. Travers provides a very well researched and beautifully presented chronicle of key events, urban tales and fun facts of an incredible era

Beautifully presented and highly recommended

Thank you to NetGalley, Pen&Sword | Pen & Sword History and the author Nicholas Travers for this awesome ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

Victorian Britain Day by Day offers a captivating exploration of the most remarkable era in British history, presenting a daily snapshot of events and facts from 1837 to 1901. Through a rich mosaic of famous moments and quirky anecdotes, the book delves into the cultural, political, and social transformations that defined the 19th century. With meticulous research and an engaging narrative, it serves as both a handy reference guide and a fascinating window into the Victorian era's lasting impact on British life.

I have always been interested in the Victorian era, since so much happens in that time span. This book is laid out in an interesting way. It is divided by day and then the notable things that happened in different years on that date. It includes births and deaths of notable people: politicians, philanthropists, and entertainers.

There are tragedies, some of which I’d never heard of before. It also has notable accomplishments, such as the dates Dickens’ novels were published or when a building was completed.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting read. Readers who are interested in learning a little more about the Victorian era will enjoy this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a lover of anything Victorian I was delighted to receive a copy of this book. Full of facts and snippets to refer too. Recommended.

I love this type of books as it's a mix of historical facts, almanac, and social history.
Informative, well researched, and entertaining.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Victorian Britain day by day by Nicholas Traverse is an OK book if you like books only to help you find other books the chapters are mainly made up of snippets from Crime to win the railroad started ET see I found it hard to get into only because the stories were so short and I think it would’ve been made for a much better read had it been written in categories or by dates what I mean is write each story as it happened on the calendar that way when you mentioned something else that happened around that time we will be both to correlated to that event… I’m probably not making any sense but either way this is still a knowledgeable book full of interesting tidbits I just found the majority were too short and it wasn’t easy to get into but still a book I recommend to history fans. It would’ve been easier to get into hadn’t been put in a more linear timeline. #PenAndSworddPress, #NetGalley, #NicolasTravers, #VictorianBrittainDayByDay

This book briefly describes significant events that occurred in Britain during 1837-1901. The format takes the reader through the year, one day at a time (January 1, January 2, etc.). The author lists several significant events that occurred on that day, indicating the year that they happened. If you like forming a timeline in your mind, this doesn't help: it's not easy to remember what order they're in or how they relate to each other (does one event lead to another?).

About half of the events focused on politics--forming governments, resignations, a few significant laws that were passed, things Victoria or her children did. There were birthdays, deaths, and weddings. Notable artists, writers, actors, scientists, and such usually got at least a mention of who they were on their birth date. Nothing was covered in detail, with weddings getting the most detailed descriptions. It's more a trivia type book than something you can easily use for research.

An interesting look into the momentous and entertaining events that happened day by day in Victorian Britain and the empire. It can be read beginning to end or just random days but it is sure to inform and entertain. It gives enough background information to give context without overwhelming the reader but the entries aren't meant to be academic level sources.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and author for the ARC pre publishing day, this review is my own and not influenced by others.
I was a little sad that I only gave this factual titbits of history day by day through one year of Victorian Britain, I loved the facts and some encouraged e to dig a little deeper into the stories.
I felt a little let down as I thought that
the daily facts could of been placed into sections with themes that run through out the year, let me explain, say we have railway facts why not pull them all together and run them chronologically so we get a sense of Victorian development though the age, or development of Science, Social, architecture, Crime, law and a whole host of things; doing it this way would help me place events in order so I would be able to absorb facts on a time line - and yes why not a time line of development for each section. By the end of the book my head wanted to put the facts/snips of stories into an order, might be just the way my mind worked. Well worth reading just for the amazing stories captured through the Victorian era.

This book offers a day-by-day exploration of Victorian Britain, from 1837 to 1901. Discover fascinating facts, quirky stories, and pivotal events that shaped this era of momentous change, from the Industrial Revolution to the rise of Dickens and Darwin. This engaging and accessible book provides a unique window into the Victorian past, revealing how this period continues to influence British life today.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

An informative and fun trivia book with a fact every day. Most well known, some lesser known. Would make a good gift for trivia fans or those interested in daily history.

Victorian Britain Day by Day by Nicholas Travers is a stellar compendium of hundreds of snippets of Victorian life (and death) during a hugely influential and impactful era.

The focus of this book is on the years 1837-1901, arranged by month and what occurred in each month over the years. Some events are known such as the births, deaths (some mysterious) and marriages of royalty and publications of authors including Anthony Trollope, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. However, this book is loaded with lesser-known information about medical advances, inventions, the evolving roles of women such as ownership of property, politics, education, a dreadful skating tragedy, deadly blizzards, founding of societies (for example, The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain), theatre, murder, music, the Thames Tunnel, first use of surgical anaesthetic and the invention of Worcestershire Sauce.

The contents are amazing and varied (I cannot fathom gathering all this information!) and the writing accessible. It was great fun to learn more about this endlessly fascinating time.

My sincere thank you to Pen & Sword and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this enthralling book which exceeded my expectations.

A wonderful little reference guide for the Victorian Era! Going through the year day by day as the title suggests, Travers brings the key facts of the era while also giving new perspectives and fun little facts. A perfect book to browse and is accessible for people with any level of knowledge about the Victorians.

This book was a great way to learn new information about the Victorian way of life, very easy to follow.

‘This book brings to life key moments in Victorian history that have occurred on every day from 1 January to 31 December’.

I like how this was written out, it is a book that you can return to daily by reading a number of facts for each day of the year.

Interesting and perfect for any history and Victorian reader.

I’ve highlighted so many moments of history from my kindle arc :)

‘31 August, 1888, the first of the Whitechapel murders occurs. No killer had inflicted as much horror, disgust and despair on Victorian Britain as Jack the Ripper’.

This book has something a bit different to other social histories. It’s includes some pretty funny anecdotes and the author presents them in a way which is engaging without detracting from the historical focus of the book as a whole.