Holidays and Hard Times

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The invention of photography in the first half of the 19th century gave people a completely different way of recording what was happening around them and soon professional and amateur photographers were turning their lenses onto every subject imaginable - monarchs and politicians, soldiers at war, industry and transport, farming and rural life, national celebrations, ordinary people at home and at work, entertainers and actors, fashion, sport, school and much else. Their work has given us a unique view of our nation's heritage. This volume looks at the major events, people and stories of the 1870s through photographs that reveal the essence of those times. As the decade began, Britain was enjoying an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. The gap between rich and poor was still vast, but conditions for workers were improving and the Bank Holiday Act pioneered paid holidays. Government swung between two giants of Victorian politics: Gladstone and Disraeli. Gladstone attempted to solve the problems of Ireland, but his efforts pleased no-one. Disraeli's coup was to purchase for Britain almost half the shares in the Suez Canal, securing the way to India. But this did not stop the country heading into recession, allowing Gladstone to storm back to power. Relive these times in the dramatic and moving pictures presented in this book.