The Domestic Revolution

How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything

By: Ruth Goodman

Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon

"The queen of living history" (Lucy Worsley) returns with an immersive account of how English women sparked a worldwide revolution - from their own kitchens.

No single invention epitomizes the Victorian era more than the black cast-iron range. Aware that the 21st-century has reduced it to a quaint relic, Ruth Goodman was determined to prove that the hot coal stove provided so much more than morning tea: It might even have kick-started the Industrial Revolution. Wielding the wit and passion seen in How to Be a Victorian, Goodman traces the tectonic shift from wood to coal in the mid-16th century - from sooty trials and errors during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to the totally smog-clouded reign of Queen Victoria. A pattern of innovation emerges as the women stoking these fires also stoked new global industries: from better soap to clean smudges to new ingredients for cooking. Laced with uproarious anecdotes of Goodman's own experience managing a coal-fired household, this fascinating book shines a hot light on the power of domestic necessity.

©2020 Ruth Goodman (P)2020 Tantor

Fascinating

This is a fascinating read with a rarely before given viewpoint on history. The specificity and detail may be dry from time to time but I love how it demonstrates concrete proof and draws sensible and thoughtful conclusions.

This book is amazing

This may be the most enlightening work of social history I have ever encountered. It is a stunningly effective demonstration of why consumer decisions matter, and is fascinating m

very enlightening to our domestic standards roots

I wish ruth goodman would have narrated it but it is still very interesting if you love wierd history

good stuff

the nation was rather calm, but the information was fascinating. I recommend it to all my friends, if only to understand some things about English cuisine.

Deserves a better narrator.

I loved the book, the information, the pacing. I didn't love the narrator. She delivers the book as if reading the driest academic treatise ever written. Ruth Goodman is a vivacious and delightful personality, match the narrator to the author and you'd have a real winner.