The nineteenth century was a time of massive growth for Britain. In 1800
it was overwhelmingly rural, agrarian, multilingual, and almost
half-Celtic. A century later it was largely urban and English. The
effects of the Industrial Revolution caused cities to swell enormously.
London, for example, grew from about 1 million people to over 6 million.
Abroad, the British Empire was reaching its apex, while at home the
world came to marvel at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with its crowning
achievement--the Crystal Palace. Historians Christopher Harvie and Colin
Matthew present a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the social,
economic, and political events that marked the era on which many
believed the sun would never set.