Fifty Years Ago

"Fifty Years Ago" by Walter Besant is a look into British society around 1837, when Queen Victoria came to power, reflecting on the amazing changes that happened in the fifty years before the book was written. Besant paints a detailed picture of the time, looking at politics, laws, and how people lived, showing how much things changed. He emphasizes major shifts in what people thought and how they lived, explaining the differences between the past and the writer's present. The author talks about how little America affected Britain back then, how important social rank was, how politics were ignored, and how democratic ideas slowly grew. This sets the stage for the rest of the book, which uncovers deeper changes in manners, politics, and different parts of society.