Lecture
Daniel Snowman
Tuesday 17.03.2026
Daniel Snowman
Popular Arts and Entertainment in Victorian Times
Tuesday 17.03.2026
How to watch
This lecture starts on 17 March at 7:00pm (UK).
Summary
What was life like for folk in and around 19th-century Britain when they had a bit of time and money to spend? Not just the rich and posh but also everyone else? What did people like to do? And where did they like to go if they had the chance? In this presentation, Daniel considers the gradual commercialisation of concerts and the theatre alongside the rising popularity of music hall, the circus, pantomime, puppetry, brass bands, light opera—and everything from sports to seaside holidays.
Daniel Snowman
Daniel Snowman is a social and cultural historian. Born in London to a Jewish family in 1938 and educated at Cambridge and Cornell, Daniel became a lecturer at the University of Sussex and went on to work for many years at the BBC as senior producer of radio features and documentaries. A senior research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), his many books include a social history of opera and a study of the cultural impact of the “Hitler Emigrés” and, most recently, his memoir Just Passing Through: Interactions with the World 1938-2021.