Victorian London

Like her previous books, this book is the product of the author's passionate interest in the realities of everyday life - and the conditions in which most people lived - so often left out of history books. This period of mid Victorian London covers a huge span: Victoria's wedding and the place of the royals in popular esteem; how the very poor lived, the underworld, prostitution, crime, prisons and transportation; the public utilities - Bazalgette on sewers and road design, Chadwick on pollution and sanitation; private charities - Peabody, Burdett Coutts - and workhouses; new terraced housing and transport, trains, omnibuses and the Underground; furniture and decor; families and the position of women; the prosperous middle classes and their new shops, e.g. Peter Jones, Harrods; entertaining and servants, food and drink; unlimited liability and bankruptcy; the rich, the marriage market, taxes and anti-semitism; the Empire, recruitment and press-gangs. The period begins with the closing of the Fleet and Marshalsea prisons and ends with the first (steam-operated) Underground trains and the first Gilbert & Sullivan.

“Whether she is describing the music halls, such as the Alhambra in Leicester Square, or the criminal underworld, or the foundation of London University, or the lives of the costermongers, or the expansion of the middle-class suburbs, she never loses her eye for the telling detail. Reading her book is like gazing at one of those energetic, crowded canvases by the Victorian painter William Powel Frith, who brought the age to life through a multiplicity of detail-- A. N. Wilson , EVENING STANDARD”

A highly readable account of nineteenth-century London... Picard's book is a mine of information told with great enthusiasm and passion. - EXPRESS (7/7/06)

This is a comprehensive history by anecdote, so the enlightening facts come thick and fast... Picard enforces the idea that history really is all around us. - TELEGRAPH (8/7/06)

Her survey of Victorian London is as enjoyably wide-ranging as her previous volumes, and her curiosity about apparent trivia resurrects the realities of the past more successfully than many more solemn works of social and political analysis do. - SUNDAY TIMES (30/7/06)

Liza Picard was born in 1927. She worked for the Inland Revenue for many years and lived in London, before retiring to Oxford where she now lives.

Pervasive computing (also referred to as ubiquitous computing or ambient intelligence) aims to create environments where computers are invisibly and seamlessly integrated and connected into our everyday environment. Pervasive computing and intelligent multimedia technologies are becoming increasingly important, although many potential applications have not yet been fully realized. These key technologies are creating a multimedia revolution that will have significant impact across a wide spectrum of consumer, business, healthcare, and governmental domains. This useful volume provides up-to-date and state-of-the-art coverage of the diverse topics related to pervasive computing and intelligent multimedia technologies. The use of different computational intelligence-based approaches to various problems in pervasive computing are examined, including video streaming, intelligent behavior modeling and control for mobile manipulators, tele-gaming, indexing video summaries for quick video browsing, web service processes, virtual environments, ambient intelligence, and prevention and detection of attacks to ubiquitous databases. Topics and features: Includes a comprehensive overview, providing a thorough literature review and an outline of the important research challenges Discusses pervasive computing approaches in the context of intelligent multimedia Examines virtual reality technology, mobile virtual environments, and the potential use of intelligent multimedia and ubiquitous computing in the hotels of the future Describes various approaches in ambient intelligence for home health care for the elderly and those suffering from Alzheimer's disease, for volcano monitoring, and for preventing attacks to ubiquitous databases Investigates issues in web services and situation awareness in pervasive computing environments Explores wireless network applications, such as mobile agents and e-commerce This textbook/reference is an invaluable resource for researchers, postgraduate and senior undergraduate students, and practitioners involved in pervasive computing, intelligent multimedia, and computational intelligence.

Like her previous books, this book is the product of the author's passionate interest in the realities of everyday life - and the conditions in which most people lived - so often left out of history books. This period of mid Victorian London covers a huge span: Victoria's wedding and the place of the royals in popular esteem; how the very poor lived, the underworld, prostitution, crime, prisons and transportation; the public utilities - Bazalgette on sewers and road design, Chadwick on pollution and sanitation; private charities - Peabody, Burdett Coutts - and workhouses; new terraced housing and transport, trains, omnibuses and the Underground; furniture and decor; families and the position of women; the prosperous middle classes and their new shops, e.g. Peter Jones, Harrods; entertaining and servants, food and drink; unlimited liability and bankruptcy; the rich, the marriage market, taxes and anti-semitism; the Empire, recruitment and press-gangs. The period begins with the closing of the Fleet and Marshalsea prisons and ends with the first (steam-operated) Underground trains and the first Gilbert & Sullivan.

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