Victorian Cities

In 1837 England and Wales boasted only five provincial cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants: by 1891 there were 23 and they housed nearly a third of the nation. Meanwhile, London had expanded two and a third times. Neither were these Victorian cities `insensate' ant-heaps, as Lewis Mumford has called them. As this century progresses we can better appreciate the energy and civic putpose which created the cities of the 19th century. In this revised and augmented edition of the companion to Victorian People, Briggs concentrates his inquiry on Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Melbourne (representing Victorian communities overseas), and London, the world city. Between these cities of the age of railways, trams, drains and gas there are superficial resemblances in their problems of housing and sanitation, location of suburbs, schools, town halls and churches, but there are differences too. A fascinating contrast is presented between Manchester and Birmingham, as their civic courses diverged economically, socially and politically...