Victorian Sensation - Or the Spectacular, the Shocking and the Scandalous in Nineteenth-Century Britain (Hardcover, First Edition,)

The extraordinary phenomenon of "sensation" characterized the Victorian age. Today, the influence of mass media on the public consciousness is an accepted feature of society. The nineteenth century witnessed an explosion in the printed media: newspapers became cheap, nationally distributed and easily accessible to all classes. The reporting of sensations in a manner designed to attract the widest possible audience and maximize sales dramatically shaped the relationship between the media and the public -- a relationship which continues to resonate today.Drawing on a wealth of contemporary material, Michael Diamond explores the stories that impacted on Victorian society through the eyes of the contemporary media. In revealing the pervasiveness of sensational reporting, Diamond sheds light on the Victorian appetite for gruesome and explicit reportage on murders and the sex trade. At the same time celebrated figures as diverse as Charles Dickens and Barnum and Bailey are portrayed against the background of the music halls and popular press that originally gave them life.Michael Diamond s passionate analysis of the period, from political sleaze and scandal to West End hits and the "feel-good" factor, shows that the reporting methods of today s popular media in many respects had its origins in the Victorian press. By turns amusing, poignant and tragic, 'Victorian Sensation' shows that sensation was as integral a part of society in the nineteenth century as it is today.