Notes on Victoriana
A look inside the greater world of the Victorian Era.
Victorian England is possibly one of the romanticized eras in history. The mention of it evokes images of horse-drawn carriages, gaslit streets, and men and women in their finest strolling along foggy, cobbled laneways. The reality was often far more grim. Sharp class divides, deadly poverty, violent crime, and rampant illnesses were ever present, even in modern cities like London, and affected the vast majority of the struggling population. It was, however, the beginning of the modern world we now live in, as under the reign of Queen Victoria, who ruled the British Empire from 1837 to 1901, the Victorians embraced science, technology and political progress in a way that we now take for granted. In fact, much of the Victorian Era feels eerily recognizable and relatable, if only slightly more quaint than today.
Through a series of articles, Notes on Victoriana is designed to take the reader to the places, things, and events that shaped the Victorian Era, and hopefully make them more familiar within the context of the Adam Cole novels and stories.
From the Nineteenth Century obsession with death, to the romantic myth of the London fog, to the rise of modern policing, and other news and developments of the era, I intend to provide a guide of insight into a long gone but far from forgotten place in modern history. Once or twice a month, new vignettes on this fascinating time and its people will appear here, so please check in regularly!
