This is a collection of essays covering research into the periodical literature of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and other outposts of Queen Victoria's Empire. The book analyzes the power of the periodical press of the British Empire in the 19th century. Each chapter describes and identifies periodicals which were locally produced and published at weekly or longer intervals during the period 1800 to 1900. These publications contained local news, poetry, fiction, commentary on the arts, news from home, and shipping and commodity reports. The research suggests that the circulation of periodicals and newspapers was larger and more influential than that of books in Victorian society.