The Victorian Visitors: Culture Shock in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Like present-day New York, early-nineteenth-century London was an extraordinarily vibrant and creative metropolis to which visitors – from scholars to social climbers – went in search of wealth and fame. The Victorian Visitors lucidly captures the encounters between London and some of its most famous visitors who left an indelible mark on its culture. Among others, Christiansen reveals the great French artist Gericault painting the climax of a public execution and the finish of the Epsom Derby, Richard Wagner guffawing at anti-Semitic jokes in the restaurant of the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Ralph Waldo Emerson driving Thomas Carlyle to distraction with his moonshine philosophy. A fascinating illustrated look at the cultural and social mores of nineteenth-century London, Christiansen challenges our stereotypes of Victorian England with vividly readable and often hilarious accounts of how British culture welcomed these remarkable foreigners.