The essays collected here all take issue with the claim that the Victorian period is the antithesis of our own. They show how characteristic postmodern anxieties and celebrations concerning truth, certainty and identity informed Victorian culture at all levels. Covering everything from attitudes to drink to the poetry of Browning, from the Great Exhibition to the Elephant Man, this volume shows not only how the Victorians coped with these challenges but also what lessons they have for us today.

STEVEN EARNSHAW Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University NADINE HOLDSWORTH Lecturer in Drama, De Montfort University, Bedford CHRIS HOPKINS Course Leader of B.A. English Studies, Sheffield Hallam University SIMON MALPAS Lecturer, Department of English, Manchester Metropolitan University JESSICA MAYNARD Tutorial Assistant, University of Wales, Bangor ROBERT MIGHALL Editor, Penguin Classics KEN NEWTON Professor of English, Dundee University JOHN PECK Senior Lecturer in English, University of Wales, Cardiff CARL PLASA Lecturer in English, University of Wales, Cardiff NICK RANCE Senior Lecturer, Middlesex University MARY ANGELA SCHWER Lecturer, University of Notre Dame PETER R. SEDGWICK Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Wales, Cardiff JONATHAN SKINNER Lecturer in Sociology and Anthropology, University of Abertay, Dundee DARRYL WADSWORTH Lecturer, University of Pennslyvania ALISTAIR WALKER Senior Lecturer in English, De Montford University, Bedford.