ONLINE BOOK TALKS Sept-Oct 2021: LONDON 1870-1914 by Andrew Saint - The Victorian Society
This series is timed to coincide with the publication by Lund Humphries of Andrew Saint’s new book London 1870–1914: A City at its Zenith. Like the book, the talks will run chronologically, covering the development of the British capital at a time when, in the speaker’s view, it reached its highest position on the world stage. Using architecture, literature and art as a means towards a wider understanding of the metropolis, they will present a story of diversity and creativity, and of social progress in the face of great odds. The author will argue that in almost every aspect London was a much better city in 1914 than in 1870.
In the first lecture of the series, Andrew Saint will discuss London in the 1870s. Though the 1870s was a decade of social stability in London, it also witnessed the stirrings of a fresh individualism and secularism, and the emergence of Art for Art’s Sake, and the Queen Anne style in architecture. ‘Queen Anne’ was memorably taken up by the School Board for London, the most radical of several boards that sought to tackle the inadequacies of parish government. The growth of the suburbs will also come into this talk, which will end with a revised reading of Bedford Park.
Though the 1870s was a decade of social stability in London, it also witnessed the stirrings of a fresh individualism and secularism, and the emergence of Art for Art’s Sake, and the Queen Anne style in architecture. ‘Queen Anne’ was memorably taken up by the School Board for London, the most radical of several boards that sought to tackle the inadequacies of parish government. The growth of the suburbs will also come into this talk, which will end with a revised reading of Bedford Park.
This talk will start by reviewing the massive growth of London, the increasing importance of its outer ring, and the transformations in its character brought by revolutions in transport: the completion of a suburban railway network, deep-level tubes, electric trams, and the advent of the motor car and bus. It will go on to review the replanning schemes for the centre: The Mall, the rebuilding of Regent Street, the Kingsway-Aldwych scheme, and the increasingly sophisticated architectural legacy of what is often known as ‘Imperial London’.
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