How to be a Victorian

Despite how long it took me to finish, I did love this book. There was just so much information I tended to get a bit bogged down. What a great book though.

In How To Be A Victorian “domestic historian” Ruth Goodman adopts a innovative approach to history. A journey back in time more intimate, personal and physical than anything before. It is one told from the inside out. How our ancestors interacted with the practicalities of their world. Along with a history of things that make up the mundane reality of life. Items so small that people scarcely mention them in their diaries or letters. As such we get a fascinating explanation of what life was like for the Victorians. Starting from when they rose in the morning until they went to bed at night. There are chapters on getting dressed, using the toilet, personal grooming, exercise, meals, school, work, and even sex.

Goodman has participated in many re-enactment-of-history series that have gained her celebrity status. Shows with names like “Victorian Pharmacy” and “Tudor Monastery Farm.” Here Ruth devoted months working, dressing, eating, bathing like her ancestors. She is, she says, interested not in royalty and politicians but in the ordinary Victorian.

This is an engaging account of how the Victorian era changed who we are. And how the influence still affects us now, in the present day.