@rododendrone - Tumblr Blog

Olga Smirnova (Bolshoi Ballet) in “Etudes”

The C O N T R O L she’s got! Those relevé attitudes!

(Today I did four chaînés in a row in class, got super dizzy, and crashed into the mirror. I did one relevé, fell over, and felt like it was way beyond me. But hey – petit a petit)

#ballet #bolshoi

historyarchaeologyartefacts

Emerald pocket watch (4,2 cm x 2 cm) from Cheapside Hoard, Europe (emerald from Colombia) 1600.[636x441]

i-penna

Gorgeous.

#emerald #pocket watch #watches #jewellery

elumish

When you’re stuck on your plot, sometimes it helps to step away from the major plot points and try to sort out some of the minor plot issues. Do you have any little holes that you can fill? Dealing with them may give you some ideas for how to deal with your major issues, because sometimes when you stop looking so hard at something it can become easier to see.

#writing advice #plot #plot holes

landprince

what if writers did streams like artists did

sodacune

adventures-in-a-world-of-fiction

I think it was a Monty Python sketch that showed an author writing with a commentary like a sports commentator.

“And he’s started writing… no, he’s just written his name at the top of the page. He’s written ‘the’, a very strong opening, used in several of his books. Oh, no, he’s crossed it out again.”

gingersnapwolves

“Ah, look, she’s opening the thesaurus again … perhaps she’s realized she used the same word six times in two paragraphs”

“Now that sentence is lovely, an excellent example of her style in - oh, no, she’s deleting it, never mind”

“This scene is clearly over, yet the brave author forges onward regardless…”

“She’s really picking up steam now, the words just flowing out from her - she’s stopped midsentence for some reason and is opening Buzzfeed”

“Choosing to google ‘which countries are nonextradition countries’ is a risk but it’s one some authors must take…”

88thparallel

Why you gotta call me out like that?

lizbetweenthelines-deactivated2

“She is now putting her thirtieth comma in the one sentence she’s been working on for two hours…”

“Ah it’s now feeding time, a period in which she will grab the nearest piece of trash and eat two bites of it before remembering she wanted to break her charecters arm and delving back into the document.”

“She is now starring into blank space which she will continue to do for three years”

“I love this bit. Watch her trip over her desk from lack of sleep and proceed to scream into the void as she lays on the floor. This really captures the essence of her style. Truly a master of her trade.”

illiteracy-is-for-woozles

You don’t have to call me out like that

#writing humor

dwagunfwoo-deactivated20160325

writers of the world: please stop using epithets in your writing, trust me “the blonde army doctor”, “the curly haired detective”, “the blue-eyed man” etc. do not sound as good in writing as they may sound in your head

instead, use the characters’ names, they’re there for a reason and it’ll make your writing much more crisp, tight, to the point, and still entertaining

anauthorandherservicedog

Names, along with common words like “said” and “asked”, become invisible. The more invisible your words, the deeper your reader will fall into your writing, to the point where the reader will forget that there are words at all and just become part of the story.

cadarnle

When your words aren’t invisible, there’s the unfortunate potential that people will turn them into a drinking game instead of reading the story.

luthienebonyx

Just about the only time that epithets work instead of using a name is when the POV character doesn’t know the other character, and so the physical description is pretty much all the POV character has to go on. You don’t think of people you know as “the tall man” or “the blonde woman”. Your POV character shouldn’t, either.

sappho-official

Yo I actually wanted to make this post a while back and I think a lot of this stems from when you have two characters who use the same pronouns interacting (which happens in fanfic). There’s this fear that the reader will confuse who the characters are referring to, so that’s why epithets are used. Instead of using epithets, use syntax, which is word order, and carry your subject through multiple sentences and actions. So, Imma teach you how to do this under the cut. (It’s a bit of a grammar lesson tbh)

Keep reading

naamahdarling

This is great.

I have a really hard time with this. It doesn’t bother me reading it, is the thing. That’s what catches me up. I don’t have a problem reading it, and I have to take it on other peoples’ word that it’s a bad thing.

ceruleancynic

THIS. FOR THE SAKE OF ALL SPACE, DO NOT FUCKING USE EPITHETS unless they actually add something to the story, or unless you are Homer, in which case rock on with your dead and classical self. I wish I’d come up with the “because people will turn it into a drinking game” illustration, because that encapsulates pretty much everything I loathe about the things. It throws me right out of the story.

Click through to read the post on syntax, which is good and useful and says what I’ve wanted to say every time this comes up: my version goes “write in such a way that you do not NEED to use epithets to clarify who is doing the action or dialogue,” but weissruby does a great job explaining how to do this.

#writing advice #the pain of reading official star wars books translated to Danish where ‘Han’ means ‘he’

elumish

one of my lecturers once made a good point that no narrator is ever reliable because every piece of writing is designed to make you think a certain way or believe a certain thing, whether its pure political writing or a childrens fairy tale. every narrator has an agenda in telling their story

That’s a great point.

#writing advice #unreliable narrator #pov

elumish

Every Narrator Should Be Unreliable

There’s a tendency to think of narrators as reliable or unreliable–either they are perfectly aware of what’s going on around them or they’re out of touch with reality. The thing is, unless you’re writing a true third person omniscient narrator, no narrator should be completely reliable.

That’s not to say that every narrator should be entirely unreliable. Most people have some general view of what’s going on around them, to varying degrees. But there is a degree of awareness that most narrators have that most people don’t. Most people can’t name the eye color of every person they meet, or perfectly interpret every facial expression, or identify every object around them after only having looked once. Most people aren’t particularly observant, and everyone gets stuff wrong sometimes.

Some of that exists within the artificiality of the story. If you want to have detailed descriptions, you need to assume a level of awareness than exists in reality.

But particularly when you’re writing first person or close third person, you should be conscious of how much detail you provide in your stories. Can the narrator really tell what the person they’re talking to is thinking (unless they’re a mind reader) or do you just want them to be able to tell so the reader knows? Is the narrator going to identify “six grey Hondas” or will they just see that there are “a lot of grey sedans” or “a bunch of grey cars”?

Don’t have the narrator notice things just because you want the reader to know it. Your narrator shouldn’t be omniscient.

#writing advice #pov #unreliable narrator

pervocracy

child handling for the childless nurse

My current job has me working with children, which is kind of a weird shock after years in environments where a “young” patient is 40 years old. Here’s my impressions so far:

Birth - 1 year: Essentially a small cute animal. Handle accordingly; gently and affectionately, but relying heavily on the caregivers and with no real expectation of cooperation.

Age 1 - 2: Hates you. Hates you so much. You can smile, you can coo, you can attempt to soothe; they hate you anyway, because you’re a stranger and you’re scary and you’re touching them. There’s no winning this so just get it over with as quickly and non-traumatically as possible.

Age 3 - 5: Nervous around medical things, but possible to soothe. Easily upset, but also easily distracted from the thing that upset them. Smartphone cartoons and “who wants a sticker?!!?!?” are key management techniques.

Age 6 - 10: Really cool, actually. I did not realize kids were this cool. Around this age they tend to be fairly outgoing, and super curious and eager to learn. Absolutely do not babytalk; instead, flatter them with how grown-up they are, teach them some Fun Gross Medical Facts, and introduce potentially frightening experiences with “hey, you want to see something really cool?”

Age 11 - 14: Extremely variable. Can be very childish or very mature, or rapidly switch from one mode to the other. At this point you can almost treat them as an adult, just… a really sensitive and unpredictable adult. Do not, under any circumstances, offer stickers. (But they might grab one out of the bin anyway.)

Age 15 - 18: Basically an adult with severely limited life experience. Treat as an adult who needs a little extra education with their care. Keep parents out of the room as much as possible, unless the kid wants them there. At this point you can go ahead and offer stickers again, because they’ll probably think it’s funny. And they’ll want one. Deep down, everyone wants a sticker.

mikkeneko

This is also a pretty excellent guide to writing kids of various ages

enjambament

Good guide. It is one of my biggest pet peeves when 6-10 year olds are all written like 3-4 year olds. Positively cringey. If in doubt err on the side of the kid being more mature than you expect.

qthewetsprocket

if in doubt err of the side of the kid being more mature than you expect

consultingfangirl221-deactivate

I’m 29 and I want a sticker.

#children

elumish

Find the Mundane in the Dramatic

One way to present drama and tension is to find a point or two of something mundane within the drama. Someone whose fall off a building is broken by a dumpster notices the smell; in the middle of a magic fight, someone notices a rock in their shoe.

This can add humor to a scene, but more importantly, it can add a point of connection to something that most readers likely never experienced. A character who is super powerful, who experiences things we never experience, can be made to feel real through thoughts that the reader can imagine having.

In addition, dramatic moments–real life dramatic moments–are usually not only dramatic. One of my clearest memories from right after getting in a car accident was texting my friend who had just broken up with her boyfriend while I waited for my mom to get me.

Narratively, this can break up the tension and give you ebbs and flows within a single scene. It can act as a relief to the reader, or it can make a dramatic moment more dramatic by providing false security to the reader.

#writing advice

kali-blackstorm-deactivated2020

Creating Suspense

There are a few components to creating suspense:

A state of conflict that creates a sense of implicit or explicit uncertainty which cause anticipation whether that be positive or negative is up to you, this anticipation is tied to something emotionally significant whether that be great reward or suffering which is thrown into the air by lack of control and all this happens within a time frame. You don’t want conflict then resolution, you want to let all these feelings simmer for a while and let your characters go mad waiting for the possibility of the outcome.

#writing advice #suspense

kali-blackstorm-deactivated2020

Masterlist

Symbolism

Rose Symbolism

Colors

Story Structure

Changing Paragraphs

Circular Ending

Different Types of Conflict

Different Types of Love

The Hero’s Journey

Losing the Plot

Picking a Title

Plot Tips

Story Structure

Show vs Tell

Theme

Thesis

Types of Openings

3rd Person Limited and Omniscient

Characters

Character Flaws

The Confidante

Development Tips 1

Development Tips 2

Development Tips 3

Dialogue Tips

FOILS

Minor Characters

Multi POV

Supporting Characters

Voices

Writing Styles

Ancient Greek Tragedies

Satire

Gothic Fiction

Transcendentalism

Rhetorical Devices

Adomination

Alliteration

Allusions

Antagoge

Antiphrasis

Apophasis

Asyndeton

Epiphora

Euphemism

Congery

Dyshpemisim

Hamartia

Hyperbole

Motifs

Parallelism

Phrases

Polysyndeton

Rhetorical Questions

Situational Irony

Verbal Irony

4 Types of Rhetoric

Different Punctuation Marks

Dashes vs. Elipses

Semicolon / Colon / Comma

Commonly Confused Words

Conscience vs. Conscious

Commonly Confused Words 7

Commonly Confused Words 5

Commonly Confused Words 4

Commonly Confused Words 3

Commonly Confused Words 2

Commonly Confused Words 1

Other

Editing

Writers Block

#writing advice #masterlist #masterpost

elumish

People talk a lot about how reading is necessary for writing, but when you really want to improve your writing, it’s important to go beyond just simple reading. Here are some things to do when reading:

Note how they begin and end the story. There are a ton of rather contradictory pieces of advice about starting stories, so see how they do it in the stories you enjoy. Don’t only look at the most popular stories, but look at your more obscure favorites.

See what strikes you. Is it fast or complicated scenes with a lot of emotions? Is it stark lines? Pithy dialogue? What do you remember the next day?

Pay attention to different styles. It’s not just whether they use past or present tense, first or third person. It’s whether the writing is more neutral or deeper inside character’s heads. Do they use italics? Parentheses? Other interesting stylistic choices? Take the ones you like and try them out in your own writing. See what works and what doesn’t.

Keep track of how they deal with other characters. Do we see a lot of secondary character each for very brief periods of time or are there a couple that show up a lot? How much information do we get about secondary characters? Do they have their own plots or do their plots revolve entirely around the main characters?

Count how many plots there are. Is there just one main plot or are there multiple subplots? Are the storylines mostly plot-based or character-based?

Pay attention to what you don’t like. If you don’t like what’s going on in a book or even just a scene, note what it is. Does the dialogue feel awkward? Are the characters inconsistent? Does the plot feel too convenient or cobbled together? Does the wording just feel off? See if you can spot those issues in your own writing, especially when reading a completed draft or beginning a later draft.

gg-writes

(Great advice! I wanted to tack on other things I look for when reading)

Pay attention to how they introduce characters. Very rarely will it be all at once, and I guarantee the author went over the intro of each major character again and again while editing, so I always like paying extra close attention! Did the intro endear you to the character? Make you dislike them? How did the author impart that emotion?

Note instances of worldbuilding/info dumps, especially parts that don’t seem like worldbuilding/info dumps. Maybe the character mentions something offhand about a location you’ll see five chapters later. Maybe the internal dialogue makes a comparison to the character’s childhood. Was the information effective or did it leave you wanting more? Make note of anything that made you go, “ooh, neat!”

After you finish the story, try to find foreshadowing that you missed the first time through! It can be as simple as skimming and looking for phrases you know are important after finishing the story. Most authors add foreshadowing in the editing stage, so I tend to ponder how the story would read before they added it. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the story seems more magical for it and it’s just nice to appreciate.

What plot structures could the story fit into? We all know about the three arc stories, hero’s journey, etc. Sometimes stories can fit into more than one category. During the read and after, keep it in the back of your mind. Can you predict where the climax of the story will hit? Is it man v man or man v nature? Does the predictability (or lack thereof) add to or take away from the story?

#writing advice #active reading

annabellioncourt

Victorian Resources Masterpost

For anyone who’s studying Victorian literature, or writing historical fiction, or who’s just plain interested in it, here ya go: an introduction to the fascinatingly Janus-faced era that brought us into the “modern” world.

Feel free to add to this, as I will continue to add to and edit it as I go through my own library and discover new sources as well.

Please note that my broke self isn’t making ANY money off of any of these links that link to sale pages, I’m doing this to help you guys and procrastinate

General Reference Websites:

The Victorian Web: if you’ve ever written a research paper on anything even vaguely associated with the century, you’ve been here. It’s best for literature resource and has a TON of links to full-text copies of novels, essays, and poetry. Not to mention free access to secondary sources God save the Queen.

BBC: History: Victorian is sadly no longer updated, but functions much like a reliable wikipedia on the century. Includes links so social life and behaviors of the people of the time period.

Victorian Studies: it’s technically an academic print journal, but let’s be real, we all read those online now covers everything having to do with things under Victoria’s reign and ocassionally extending back or forward a bit as well. You can access some issues of it for free here (and EVEN DOWNLOAD THEM). Or if you’re rich or a student using library access, you can also use JSTOR (if you’re neither rich nor a student, check to see if your local library has JSTOR access. They’ll also teach you how to use it).

Story of England: The Victorians: run by the English Heritage’s network, this provides a bright and quick (if not…shiny) view of literally everything from the time.

Victoria & Albert Museum: often shortened to “V&A” this museum houses art and design from the 17th century and earlier on to the modern day. Their online galleries are image rich, and include costume from all eras, Regency era furniture and more.

The British Museum: aka Heaven aka “I need to forget that at LEAST 1/3 of this stuff is stolen to enjoy this” they have collections ranging from the literal dawn of human existence to the modern day, and as expected they have Victorian things as well. The link given is for gallery of Europe 1800-1900.

General Reference Books:

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool: I can’t praise this one enough; whenever I’m writing this thing is within arm’s reach. Sure, google is faster, but the glossary in this book is a great source in and of itself: over 100 pages of Victorian terms. The first 2/3 of it is a short, sweet, and to the point Victorian Life 101. Now I never noticed this becuase I read a shit-ton of Victorian lit since I don’t have a life but he does name-drop and reference a million different literary works, sometimes literary characters without naming their work of origin, but knowing these is unneeded to understand the content.

The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli by Richard Aldous These guys were the British Hamilton and Burr. They hated each other, were on opposing political sides for EVERYTHING (some say just to spite the other), and couldn’t escape each other even in death, being buried within a yard of each other. If you want to know how the government grudges worked in this time period, give it a look. They also played VITAL roles in several major changes to British law.

Daily Live in Victorian England by Salley Mitchell: Much like What Jane Austen… this covers every aspect of Victorian life, but in slightly more detail. It focuses on why things were a certain way and how current events impacted the culture in addition to telling how things were.

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman: This one’s kind of fun,it’s arranged about life from morning through to the night, and has had several printings and “sequels” to the series (there’s a Tudor and a Middle Ages one too I believe). The only downside is that (though Ms. Goodman goes out of her way to mention different parts of the century), the clever layout still insinuates that the century was rather…homogenous rather than constantly changing.

The Queen (book)

Victoria: A Life by A. N. Wilson is a very good (and of reasonably length) biography of her ascension to the throne and ruling, leaving out none of the cringe (Empress of India, anyone?), but also her strengths as a leader. No understanding of the century is complete without a concept of the regent that gave her name to it. I’m guilty of watching and liking the show too, but that recent BBC drama on her was so painfully inaccurate I was tearing at my hair while begging for it to become a fully ahistorical work and end differently. So please. Do your writing a favor and familiarize yourself with the actual events.

Yikes: Nasty things the Empire did (not complete list) (books)

The Crimean War by Orlando Figes: This was a particularly violent and nasty mess that shook the Victorian world to the core.

Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes: a frightening glimpse into how a generation of men were raised into war-mongering Churchill’s who saw battle from the backseats as a “jolly good time” (his line, not mine), while the poor men died in droves at the front lines. This is the generation of old men that sent all of England’s youth to the slaughterhouses of the trenches in WWI. It covers the schooling only, but the implications of the future are what make this otherwise charming pastural bildungsroman into a disturbing light.

The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham: a war sprung on by greed and racism, it became as bloody as you can imagine a war started for such reasons would become. Though it stretches into the Edwardian, my personal opinion is that it’s out break in 1899, more than Victoria’s death in 1901, truely marked the end of an era for the empire on which the sun never set.

An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Sashi Tharoor: Company ruled for nearly 100 years before the “mutiny” in 1857, Britain essentially took over India. This chronicles the use and abuse the empire committed on the people and land of “their” “colony.”

Crime (books)

Victorian Murderesses by Mary S. Hartman: if you’re going to go the dark route and don’t want to deviate too much from history, this is an interesting read. Covers the crime, conviction, punishment, and general circumstances surrounding crimes committed by women in both France and England.

Unconscious Crime: Mental Absence and Criminal Responsibility in Victorian London by Joel Peter Eigen: Where do I start? This covers several case studies of crimes committed by those who were in temporary states of madness, sleep walking, or otherwise “not in their proper mind” when committing violent crimes, and how the Victorian judicial system handled these claims in an era that was disproportionally fascinated by death and crime. The author is a great dude and kind of local to me, and has another book called Witnessing Insanity on more madness in the English court system.

The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders: EXCELLENT if not lengthy read, and entertaining enough on it’s own to read without just using it as a reference for your current work. If you’re writing on the early detective novels, early police departments, or writing a story about a crime during this century I can’t reccomend it enough. She also wrote The Victorian City which focuses on the earlier part of the Victorian era.

Fashion

Victorian Fashion by Jayne Shrimpton: photographic history of Victorian fashion, touches on Edwardian as well

Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston: more of a specific look at certain items than a complete overview, it nonetheless has some fascinating points on different style elements such as embroidery, materials, construction details/stitching, and etc. Images from the Glorious V&A museum

Other Specialized Topics (books)

Servants: A Downstairs History of Britain from the Nineteenth Century to Modern Times by Lucy Lethbridge: Once again, a vital thing for writers. In an entertainment industry post-Downton Abbey, this is a bit more focused, but if Howard’s End is your only reference point for life for the serving class, familiarize yourself with their lifestyles, what was expected of them, and how they were treated.

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management: an original source book from 1861, it collects all her articles on how to run a happy and healthy home, behave like a proper woman, and care for the family.

The Victorian Book of the Dead by Chris Woodyard: You could fill a LIBRARY with books and essays written on the Victorian’s obsession with death and mourning. For example: did you know that excessive mourning was actually quite rare? Queen Victoria’s behavior after Albert’s death was considered very unusual, and more than that….a sign of wealth. However there were rituals even the lowest classes stuck close too throughout the century and this tome delves into even some of the more obscure trends and beliefs surrounding the cult of mourning.

briliantlyfreakish

Worst Jobs in History with Tony Robinson has an episode about the Victorian era. It is on youtube. Very interesting and informative.

#history #interesting #the victorians #writing reference #the victorian era #masterlist #masterpost

annabellioncourt

Victorian Resources Masterpost

For anyone who’s studying Victorian literature, or writing historical fiction, or who’s just plain interested in it, here ya go: an introduction to the fascinatingly Janus-faced era that brought us into the “modern” world.

Feel free to add to this, as I will continue to add to and edit it as I go through my own library and discover new sources as well.

Please note that my broke self isn’t making ANY money off of any of these links that link to sale pages, I’m doing this to help you guys and procrastinate

General Reference Websites:

The Victorian Web: if you’ve ever written a research paper on anything even vaguely associated with the century, you’ve been here. It’s best for literature resource and has a TON of links to full-text copies of novels, essays, and poetry. Not to mention free access to secondary sources God save the Queen.

BBC: History: Victorian is sadly no longer updated, but functions much like a reliable wikipedia on the century. Includes links so social life and behaviors of the people of the time period.

Victorian Studies: it’s technically an academic print journal, but let’s be real, we all read those online now covers everything having to do with things under Victoria’s reign and ocassionally extending back or forward a bit as well. You can access some issues of it for free here (and EVEN DOWNLOAD THEM). Or if you’re rich or a student using library access, you can also use JSTOR (if you’re neither rich nor a student, check to see if your local library has JSTOR access. They’ll also teach you how to use it).

Story of England: The Victorians: run by the English Heritage’s network, this provides a bright and quick (if not…shiny) view of literally everything from the time.

Victoria & Albert Museum: often shortened to “V&A” this museum houses art and design from the 17th century and earlier on to the modern day. Their online galleries are image rich, and include costume from all eras, Regency era furniture and more.

The British Museum: aka Heaven aka “I need to forget that at LEAST 1/3 of this stuff is stolen to enjoy this” they have collections ranging from the literal dawn of human existence to the modern day, and as expected they have Victorian things as well. The link given is for gallery of Europe 1800-1900.

General Reference Books:

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool: I can’t praise this one enough; whenever I’m writing this thing is within arm’s reach. Sure, google is faster, but the glossary in this book is a great source in and of itself: over 100 pages of Victorian terms. The first 2/3 of it is a short, sweet, and to the point Victorian Life 101. Now I never noticed this becuase I read a shit-ton of Victorian lit since I don’t have a life but he does name-drop and reference a million different literary works, sometimes literary characters without naming their work of origin, but knowing these is unneeded to understand the content.

The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli by Richard Aldous These guys were the British Hamilton and Burr. They hated each other, were on opposing political sides for EVERYTHING (some say just to spite the other), and couldn’t escape each other even in death, being buried within a yard of each other. If you want to know how the government grudges worked in this time period, give it a look. They also played VITAL roles in several major changes to British law.

Daily Live in Victorian England by Salley Mitchell: Much like What Jane Austen… this covers every aspect of Victorian life, but in slightly more detail. It focuses on why things were a certain way and how current events impacted the culture in addition to telling how things were.

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman: This one’s kind of fun,it’s arranged about life from morning through to the night, and has had several printings and “sequels” to the series (there’s a Tudor and a Middle Ages one too I believe). The only downside is that (though Ms. Goodman goes out of her way to mention different parts of the century), the clever layout still insinuates that the century was rather…homogenous rather than constantly changing.

The Queen (book)

Victoria: A Life by A. N. Wilson is a very good (and of reasonably length) biography of her ascension to the throne and ruling, leaving out none of the cringe (Empress of India, anyone?), but also her strengths as a leader. No understanding of the century is complete without a concept of the regent that gave her name to it. I’m guilty of watching and liking the show too, but that recent BBC drama on her was so painfully inaccurate I was tearing at my hair while begging for it to become a fully ahistorical work and end differently. So please. Do your writing a favor and familiarize yourself with the actual events.

Yikes: Nasty things the Empire did (not complete list) (books)

The Crimean War by Orlando Figes: This was a particularly violent and nasty mess that shook the Victorian world to the core.

Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes: a frightening glimpse into how a generation of men were raised into war-mongering Churchill’s who saw battle from the backseats as a “jolly good time” (his line, not mine), while the poor men died in droves at the front lines. This is the generation of old men that sent all of England’s youth to the slaughterhouses of the trenches in WWI. It covers the schooling only, but the implications of the future are what make this otherwise charming pastural bildungsroman into a disturbing light.

The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham: a war sprung on by greed and racism, it became as bloody as you can imagine a war started for such reasons would become. Though it stretches into the Edwardian, my personal opinion is that it’s out break in 1899, more than Victoria’s death in 1901, truely marked the end of an era for the empire on which the sun never set.

An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India by Sashi Tharoor: Company ruled for nearly 100 years before the “mutiny” in 1857, Britain essentially took over India. This chronicles the use and abuse the empire committed on the people and land of “their” “colony.”

Crime (books)

Victorian Murderesses by Mary S. Hartman: if you’re going to go the dark route and don’t want to deviate too much from history, this is an interesting read. Covers the crime, conviction, punishment, and general circumstances surrounding crimes committed by women in both France and England.

Unconscious Crime: Mental Absence and Criminal Responsibility in Victorian London by Joel Peter Eigen: Where do I start? This covers several case studies of crimes committed by those who were in temporary states of madness, sleep walking, or otherwise “not in their proper mind” when committing violent crimes, and how the Victorian judicial system handled these claims in an era that was disproportionally fascinated by death and crime. The author is a great dude and kind of local to me, and has another book called Witnessing Insanity on more madness in the English court system.

The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders: EXCELLENT if not lengthy read, and entertaining enough on it’s own to read without just using it as a reference for your current work. If you’re writing on the early detective novels, early police departments, or writing a story about a crime during this century I can’t reccomend it enough. She also wrote The Victorian City which focuses on the earlier part of the Victorian era.

Fashion

Victorian Fashion by Jayne Shrimpton: photographic history of Victorian fashion, touches on Edwardian as well

Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston: more of a specific look at certain items than a complete overview, it nonetheless has some fascinating points on different style elements such as embroidery, materials, construction details/stitching, and etc. Images from the Glorious V&A museum

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