The Great Exhibition

This book explores the Great Exhibition of 1851, from its bold creation and dazzling displays in the Crystal Palace to its lasting legacy in Victorian culture. It offers a clear and engaging history of how the Exhibition was organised, its impact on society, and its place in shaping the modern world.

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was the world’s first international exposition of manufactured goods, inventions, works of art and artefacts from many cultures. A showcase of British manufacturing supremacy, an educational extravaganza, a lesson to foreigners and a deep source of public fascination, the Exhibition was closely connected with Queen Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert, who put much effort into having it sited in Hyde Park against stiff opposition.

Protesters feared the disappearance of the park under tons of bricks and mortar, but when the great structure was eventually chosen and built, it silenced dissenters and became the most famous new building in the world. During its six months, the Exhibition’s 100,000 exhibits were seen by over 6 million people who came to celebrate Britain’s industrial ascendancy and sparked a renewed confidence in the possibilities of peaceful social progress.

In The Great Exhibition, John R. Davis explores the organisation and implementation of the event, and delves into its wider significance and the historical debates surrounding it. Complete with insights into the event’s part in the construction of the modern world, this accessible history showcases the pinnacle of Victorian innovation.

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