Description
Book SynopsisThis book is the first serious study of the Victorian music hall from a national perspective. It outlines the history of the halls, their programmes and the particular composition of their audiences, and examines specific conflicts in London and the regions in terms of class and culture. The London scene is shown as being untypical for the nation as a whole.
Trade Review"...very solid and meticulously researched achievement...firmly based in the scholarly literature on the halls while definitely extending its boundaries. It is an important historical study of Victorian popular culture...." Michael Pickering, Victorian Studies
"...a vital contribution to the field, the result of pioneering research that sets the halls in a truly national perspective for the first time. ...anyone concerned with social/cultural formations in Victorian Britain will need to take full account of the complexity and loical diversity in the development of cultural institutions, and in their relations with the wider society, that Dagmar Kift has demonstrated so effectively in this book. It will be indispensable to all students of the music halls, and of great value to historians of nineteenth century culture and society." Philemon Eva, Journal of Social History
"...Kift provides an excellent overview of recent work on the music hall as well as groundbreaking analyses of the provincial halls and their legal troubles. ...an important book that brings fresh evidence and sophisticated interpretation to the complex interelations of popular entertainment, audiences, local government, and pressure groups." Martha Vicinus, American Historical Review
"...providing a mine of knowledge and resources for future scholarship." Essays in Theatre
Table of ContentsPart I. The English Music Hall: 1. History; 2. The music-hall programme; 3. The audience; Part II. Cultures in Conflict: 4. 1840–1865: rivalry in leisure; 5. 1860–1877: the 'demon drink'; 6. 1875–1888: programmes and purifiers; 7. The special case of London, 1840–1888; 8. Controversies in the 1890s.
