Life in Victorian times

These four heavily illustrated volumes with clear but quite comprehensive texts,especially in expanded captions to the contemporary illustrations, give a good and encyclopaedic picture of life in the Victorian United Kingdom, suited to the target age range of seven‐ to eleven‐year‐olds. Each volume is full of contemporary illustrations of all kinds, well selected and clearly explained, with brief introductions setting a context to each double‐page‐spread feature. Each volume also has an overall introduction (again in a standard two‐page opening), a glossary (words to be explained are printed in bold in the texts) and a single‐page index.

The coverage is good:...