Hacking up the Victorians

29/07/2002 Written by Kathryn Hughes

It is hard, now, to recap­ture the mood of excited, dis­gusted bab­ble that greeted Emi­nent Vic­to­ri­ans on its pub­li­ca­tion in 1918. Lyt­ton Strachey’s scourg­ing pen-​portraits of four icons of high Victorianism-​Cardinal Man­ning, Miss Nightin­gale, Dr Arnold and Gen­eral Gordon-​struck many as an act of vicious impi­ety, a piss­ing on the spirit that had pulled Britain tri­umphantly through the war.For oth­ers, the book was a timely reminder that Vic­to­rian val­ues were not only smug and silly, but dangerous.…



From : prospect​-mag​a​zine​.co​.uk