The Victorians: Britain Through the Paintings of the Age

The Victorians is, as it says on the cover, "Britain through the paintings of the age". The illustrations are superb, fascinating for an aficionado of all things Victorian, but personally I found Paxman's prose a bit too much. His style is probably better suited to TV presentation, as of course this is the book of a BBC series.

Reasonably interesting book about Victorian life as depicted in the art of the time. Nothing very radical or new if you are fairly knowledgeable about this subject already, and not all the paintings discussed are illustrated. Probably at its best on the work/social conditions aspects of art. Paxman is nominally the author (and originator of the TV series linked to the book) but the writing is fairly bland and 'corporate' as befits what was clearly a collaborative project (and honestly described as such, to be fair)

Would have been 5-star if JP had written it all himself