Industrial revolution powered Britain to global pre-eminence and initiated social reform.
Victorians
Overview: Victorian Britain 1837 - 1901
Overview: Victorian Britain, 1837 - 1901
During the Victorian era, Britain could claim to be the world's superpower, despite social inequality at home and burgeoning industrial rivals overseas. How did it happen?
Queen Victoria and Her Prime Ministers
Queen Victoria and her Prime Ministers
Find out which of her ministers she loved 'like a father' and which drove her into a white rage. By Christopher Hibbert.
- Disraeli and Gladstone: Opposing Forces by Robert Blake
- Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline
- Victoria as a Girl: The Patient Rebel by Professor Lynne Vallone
Major Events of Victoria's Reign
British India and the 'Great Rebellion'
How did the Great Rebellion - otherwise known as the Indian Mutiny - of 1857 shape modern India? By Professor Peter Marshall.
- Zulu: The True Story - Evidence of a cover-up, by Saul David
- Women's Rights Quiz - Test your knowledge of the rights of Victorian women
- The Irish Famine by Jim Donnelly
- Irish Home Rule: An imagined future by Dr James McConnel
- The Chartist Movement 1838 - 1848 by Stephen Roberts
- Reforming Acts by Asa Briggs
- Beneath the Surface: A Country of Two Nations by Joanne de Pennington
- The Boer Wars by Professor Fransjohan Pretorius
- The Crimean War by Andrew Lambert
Britain's Industrial Revolution
Who Wants to Be a Cotton Millionaire?
Cotton was one of the driving forces of the Industrial Revolution. Find out if you have what it takes to make it in this cut-throat Victorian trade.
- The Workshop of the World - Britain's industrial dominance, by Pat Hudson
- All Change in the Victorian Age by Bruce Robinson
Victorian Technology and Innovation
Victorian Technology
The technology developed in Victoria's reign brought a social and economic revolution whose effects are still being felt today. By Paul Atterbury.
- Brunel: 'The Practical Prophet' - Brunel won some, he lost some, but he surely had nerve.
- The 'Great Eastern' - Brunel's blueprint for decades of ship design
- Stephenson's Rocket Animation - Inside the trailblazing steam engine
- The Blast Furnace Animation - Inside the device that shaped the industrial revolution
- The Spinning Mill Animation - Inside the machinery that revolutionised textiles
- Winding Gear Animation - Inside this mechanism of the industrial age
- The Beam Engine Animation - Inside the Victorian engine
- Paddle Steamship Animation
- Iron Bridge Virtual Tour
- The Iron Bridge - How was it Built? by David de Haan
- Seven Wonders of the Industrial World by Deborah Cadbury
- Panama Canal Gallery by Panama Canal Authority
- The Airy Transit Circle by Emily Winterburn
Daily Life in Victorian Britain
Women's Work
The ability to earn contributed to Victorian women's independence, but at what cost? By Professor Pat Hudson.
- Tudors and Victorians: Dressing Up
- The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class by Dr Donna Loftus
- Crime and the Victorians by Professor Clive Emsley
- Victorian Mugshots Gallery by Steve Jones
- London: 'A Modern Babylon' by Bruce Robinson
- Sex, Drugs and Music Hall by Matthew Sweet
- The Victorian Seaside by Professor John Walton
- Victorian Sport: Playing by the Rules by Alex Perry
- Beneath the Surface: Social Reports as Primary Sources by Joanne de Pennington
- On the Beat in Birmingham by David Cross
Welfare and Health in Victorian Britain
- Foul Facts Gallery: Vile Victorians
- The Rural Exodus by Mike Winstanley
- Victorian Medicine - From Fluke to Theory by Bruce Robinson
- Florence Nightingale: the Lady with the Lamp by Mark Bostridge
- The Foundling Hospital by Rhian Harris
British History Timeline
World War One Centenary
- Find out more about how the BBC is covering the World War One Centenary, and see the latest programmes and online content
Surviving the trenches
The History of the Home
BBC iD
BBC iDBBC navigation
BBC links
BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
