The domestic revolution : how the introduction of coal into Victorian homes changed everything

“The queen of living history” (Lucy Worsley) returns with an immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution―from their own kitchens. No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the twenty-first-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea: it might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-sixteenth century―from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria. A pattern of innovation emerges as the women stoking these fires also stoked new global industries: from better soap to clean smudges to new ingredients for cooking. Laced with uproarious anecdotes of Goodman’s own experience managing a coal-fired household, this fascinating book shines a hot light on the power of domestic necessity. 70 black-and-white illustrations 'ruth Is The Queen Of Living History - Long May She Reign.' Lucy Worsley A Large Black Cast Iron Range Glowing Hot, The Kettle Steaming On Top, Provider Of Everything From Bath Water And Clean Socks To Morning Tea: It's A Nostalgic Icon Of A Victorian Way Of Life. But It Is Far More Than That. In This Book, Social Historian And Tv Presenter Ruth Goodman Tells The Story Of How The Development Of The Coal-fired Domestic Range Fundamentally Changed Not Just Our Domestic Comforts, But Our World. The Revolution Began As Far Back As The Reign Of Queen Elizabeth I, When London Began The Switch From Wood To Coal As Its Domestic Fuel - A Full 200 Years Before Any Other City. It Would Be This Domestic Demand For More Coal That Would Lead To The Expansion Of Mining, Engineering, Construction And Industry: The Domestic Revolution Kick-started, Pushed And Fuelled The Industrial Revolution. There Were Other Radical Shifts. Coal Cooking Was To Change Not Just How We Cooked But What We Cooked (causing Major Swings In Diet), How We Washed (first Our Laundry And Then Our Bodies) And How We Decorated (spurring The Wallpaper Industry). It Also Defined The Nature Of Women's And Men's Working Lives, Pushing Women More Firmly Into The Domestic Sphere. It Transformed Our Landscape And Environment (by The Time Of Elizabeth's Death In 1603, London's Air Was As Polluted As That Of Modern Beijing). Even Tea Drinking Can Be Brought Back To Coal In The Home, With All Its Ramifications For The Shape Of The Empire And Modern World Economics. Taken Together, These Shifts In Our Day-to-day Practices Started Something Big, Something Unprecedented, Something That Was Exported Across The Globe And Helped Create The World We Live In Today. ""The queen of living history" (Lucy Worsley) returns with an immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution-from their own kitchens. No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the twenty-first-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea : it might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-sixteenth century-from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria. A pattern of innovation emerges as the women stoking these fires also stoked new global industries : from better soap to clean smudges to new ingredients for cooking. Laced with uproarious anecdotes of Goodman's own experience managing a coal-fired household, this fascinating book shines a hot light on the power of domestic necessity"-- Provided by publisher "Our domestic Sherlock brims with excitement" (Roger Lowenstein, Wall Street Journal) in this erudite romp through the smoke-stained, coal-fired houses of Victorian England. "The queen of living history" (Lucy Worsley) dazzles anglophiles and history lovers alike with this immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution—from their own kitchens. Wielding the same wit and passion as seen in How to Be a Victorian, Ruth Goodman shows that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea. As Goodman traces the amazing shift from wood to coal in mid-sixteenth century England, a pattern of innovation emerges as the women stoking these fires also stoked new global industries: from better soap to clean smudges to new ingredients for cooking. Laced with irresistibly charming anecdotes of Goodman's own experience managing a coal-fired household, The Domestic Revolution shines a hot light on the power of domestic necessity.