History Through Poetry: Victorians

'A dozen angry models jetted steam:
A petty railway ran: a fire-balloon
Rose gem-like up before the dusky groves
And dropped a fairy parachute . . .'

A poem can tell us a great deal about the moment in history when the poet put pen to paper. This book uses the words of poems, ballads and popular rhymes to reveal Victorian ideas of war and wealth, sport and science, empire and industry. It looks closely at the poets and their poetry, and at the world they describe.