Books
The title "Gentleman Scholar" was largely applied to members of the over-privileged upper class of the Victorian Age. It is fitting, therefore, that probably the only man in modern Britain who comes close to fitting into that category has turned his attention to the 19th Century in his latest book: The Victorians.
Although his work is undoubtedly less groundbreaking than the intellectual heavyweights who occupied the back end of the 1800s, Andrew Wilson uses the same techniques as his predecessors, totally immersing himself in his chosen topic in order to conjure up a unique, comprehensive and charming image of the Victorian age.
Critics could point out that that Wilson's book draws heavily upon other academic historians' work, however this isn't something Wilson would ever even attempt to deny and even then is it necessarily a bad thing?
Wilson's departure from an academic style allows him to make the generalisations a book like this needs, but that would make a serious student of history blush. That is not to say that the book deals only in simplifications; reading the book is very much the same as listening to Wilson talk: a series of amusing, but only marginally interrelated anecdotes, eventually, grudgingly and tenuously linked to the greater narrative.
So it is that while reading The Victorians is rather disorientating, the overall experience gives the reader some knowledge of the history of the era while also helping him enter the lives of the highest and lowest members of its society through some sympathetic, personal tales.
At first it seems difficult to determine exactly to whom The Victorians is aimed. It makes far to many generalisations to be considered a seriously academic book; however at around the 700 page mark, only the most dedicated reader would make the time commitment to the whole book.
However make that commitment they should, Wilson's book is an excellent introduction to a period of history that's importance cannot be exaggerated.
If the 20th Century was one of technology and war, then the 19th was the century of intellectualism which set up the enormous steps forwards and back of the last hundred years.
Wilson argues that the most interesting characters are those who act against the accepted wisdom of the period, he singles out the likes of Karl Marx, William Morris and the Chartists who were highly critical of the extraordinary levels of suffering caused by the capitalism of the time. While some of these problems have improved others are still as urgent having never been properly dealt with.
Indeed Wilson sees more than a little of the Victorian in Tony Blair's paternal, possibly patronising, attitudes towards Africa.
Many reviewers have seem to think that Wilson's book is attempt to save the Victorians from the decadent, shallow and cruel image sometimes attributed to them; however I believe this could not be further from the truth. Throughout the book we are constantly reminded of the shocking inequalities that existed within and were reinforced by Victorian Society.
Wilson argues that it is the sheer deprivation of life for the majority of people in Britain that is the most striking aspect of life for the Victorians.
17th Oct 2002