Spanning more than six decades, the Victorian age witnessed enormous changes around Britain and vast swathes of the globe, and this collection surveys both the big events and the minutiae of everyday life. Compiled by a direct descendant of Charles Dickens, here are anecdotes about bizarre urban legends like Spring-Heeled Jack and the all-too-real menace of Jack the Ripper, alongside accounts of the building of the London Underground, how a maid spent her leisure time, and how it felt travelling on a steam train for the first time.