Victorian modern life paintings gives a comprehensive picture of a formative age. Developing from the historical and literary styles of the 1830s and 1840s, this precise, realistic genre reached its zenith between 1850 and 1870 before photography had become widely popular, and is a main source of visual documentation for a considerable portion of Victoria's reign. The paintings show not merely how the painters looked at life but how the Victorians in general looked at themselves. Christopher Wood's book is a study of the paintings and their social and historical background. It is an examination of the manners and morals of Victorian society. The 269 illustrations include some of the best paintings available by artists of every school from Frith and Hicks to Ford Madox Ford and Millais, many of them never published before, and arranged according to subject matter throughout.