eishiya reviewed History as Hot News, 1842-1865 by Leonard de Vries
An immersive look at history
4 stars
This collection of abridged articles from the Illustrated London News offers an interesting way to get a broad look at the events of 1842-1865: as a newspaper-reading English person might've seen them. The printing quality is great, the abridgements are subtle and seem to be tasteful.
The article selection is interesting, covering many major events such as the 1848 French Revolution, the 1851 Great Exhibition, the Crimean War, the American Civil War, as well as some smaller ones. It's a great way to get a feel for the journalism of this era without trawling through thousands of pages of articles yourself.
If you're interested in some specific events, or want the full experience without abridgements and with all the adverts, then this book is probably not going to satisfy. Fortunately, issues of the Illustrated London News 1842-1927 are available and searchable on archive.org, as are many other 19th century newspapers.