Picturing the Past

How did Victorians view their national past? Through case-studies of nineteenth-century history books, history textbooks, and historical novels, this monograph aims to explore the middle-class experience of English history. It highlights how history - once a popular pastime became the preserve of the professional, and it shows how text and image, popular and scholarly publications, multi-volumed histories and historical novels, all contributed to a varied picture of the national past.