The Age of Improvement has long established itself as a classic of modern historical writing. Widely read and quoted it has had a unique influence on teaching and research. This second edition draws on the great volume of new research - produced by Lord Briggs amongst others, since its original publication. The book stresses both the underlying unity and the rich variety of the age, and raises fundamental issues about a period of crucial change in British history - industrialisation, war, constitutional change and the attitudes of politicians towards it, political development, and,...

This major new book provides a sparkling and detailed account of classical, modern, and popular music throughout Queen Victoria's long reign.It completes the acclaimed series of classic studies by Professor Briggs, published as Victorian Cities, Victorian People, and Victorian Things. Lord Briggs has written the work with the music specialist Janet Lovegrove.The approach is deliberately chronological. It observes the music scene - both metropolitan and provincial - at twenty-year intervals. It particularly shows how contemporaries themselves perceived music in 1837, 1857, 1877 and 1897. These...