Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800-1906 (The Penguin History of Britain)

A sweeping history of nineteenth-century Britain by one of the world's most respected historians.

In the nineteenth century, Britain was a country that saw itself at the summit of the world: the largest empire in history. Yet despite the vast growth of its cities and the evolutions in transportation, communication, science, and work, it was also a society permeated with doubt, fear, and introspection. Politicians and writers felt themselves to be staring into the abyss, and what is seen as an era of irritating self-belief was in fact obsessed with its own fragility, whether as a great power or as a moral force.

Capturing this extraordinary period - the relish, humor, and staginess of the age, but also the dilemmas faced by its citizens, ones we are familiar with today - Victorious Century offers a bold and fascinating new interpretation of nineteenth-century Britain by one of our most renowned historians.