British Children’s Literature of the 19th Century

Before the Pevensie children found their way to Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and before dark academia was trendy, there was Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the invention of school stories, both in the 19th century. Victorian scholar Fleming (formerly Fisk Univ., now at the National Endowment for the Humanities) explores everything from Neverland to Toad Hall in this wide-ranging resource focused on British authors and illustrators, their works, publishers, genres, influences, and literary culture. A short and academic introduction and a chronology of major works and events set the groundwork before the book’s individual entries begin and will be of wide interest. Individual entries combine definitions and explanations with examples and key concepts, citing sources within the text as well as in notes for further reading. Each entry is sufficient to understand the subject and to make leaps of inquiry across the text.