The Victorian House

13 hrs. 45 min.

Miscellaneous

Language Russian

Author Judith Flanders

Narrator Mikhail Roslyakov

Description

Yudit Flanders, historian and author of bestsellers about Victorian buildings and the Victorian city, reflects on what changes the house—and the very concept of it—has undergone over the past 500 years. Using examples from Europe and America, the author shows how, while gradually improving their dwelling, people became surrounded by more and more new objects, until they arrived at the house in which our contemporaries live— with this or that feature. Following the “path of progress” from the 16th to the 21st century, Flanders vividly and engagingly tells when and how the first tables, chairs, and toilets appeared, where beds originally “lived,” and why people introduced curtains and tablecloths into everyday life—as well as many other household items. Special attention is given to how marriages were formed and how family relationships were built, how children were raised, and what they were dressed in.

And the author’s main idea is that a home is a completely special, separate place where we belong only to ourselves—and can be only ourselves.

Contents:

Part 01. Ideas of the Home. What Was There in the Beginning
Chapter 01 Family and Home
Chapter 02 Personal Space and Home
Chapter 03 Home and the World
Chapter 04 Furniture that Makes a Home
Chapter 05 Myths about the Home
Part 2. Home Technology
Chapter 06 The Hearth and Home Space
Chapter 07 The Invisible Home
Conclusion. Not Home
Acknowledgments