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‘Domestic Harmony, Public Virtue’

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Part of the book series: The Making of Britain ((MABR))

Abstract

It used to be said that history was all about kings and queens. At school in the 1950s, we certainly learned more about the doings of mediaeval monarchs, the crowned heads of Europe and the great Victoria than about ordinary people, their work, their families, their dreams and desires. Ideas about history have changed since then and there is now far more attention paid to everyday lives. But the affairs of the royals, looked at anew through the lens of social history, can give fascinating insights into public attitudes to family, marriage and sexuality — key aspects of the nineteenth-century world.

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Further reading

  • L. Davidoff and C. Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English middle class 1780–1850 (London, 1987); J. Gillis, For Better, For Worse: British Marriages 1600 to the Present (Oxford, 1986); A. John, By the Sweat of their Brow. Women Workers at Victorian coal mines (London, 1984); I. Pinchbeck, Women workers and the Industrial Revolution 1750–1850 (London, 1981); J. Rendell, The Origins of Modern Feminism: Women in Britain, France and the United States 1780–1860 (London, 1985); B. Taylor, Eve and the New Jerusalem. Socialism and Feminism in the Nineteenth Century (London, 1983); J. Weeks, Sex, Politics and Society. The regulation of sexuality since 1800 (London, 1981).

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Authors

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Lesley M. Smith

Copyright information

© 1987 London Weekend Television

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Hall, C. (1987). ‘Domestic Harmony, Public Virtue’. In: Smith, L.M. (eds) The Making of Britain. The Making of Britain. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18598-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18598-6_7

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-333-43867-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-18598-6

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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