The Victorians is the Honourable Member for North East Somerset’s collection of 12 potted biographies praising notable figures from the late 19th century, all of them men except the eponymous queen herself, and not a single scientist, poet, author or artist among them. Not only because Rees-Mogg is one of the more fanatical proponents of the seismic act of colossal national self-harm that inspired the launch of this newspaper, though that’s reason enough, but the literary evisceration of his preposterous book comes at a time of growing evidence of a distinct and much-needed cultural shift in publishing. Allen, £20) since its publication at the end of last month has, I must confess, rather draped a rainbow around my shoulders. It’s not often I enjoy seeing an author getting an absolute savaging from reviewers but the way the literary pages have gone after Jacob Rees-Mogg’s The Victorians: Twelve Titans Who Forged Britain (W.H.
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