The reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), which marked an entire era, brought colossal changes to metropolitan London life. Economic development and scientific and technological progress contributed to the growth of outskirts and suburbs, active construction, and the emergence of new inventions and discoveries. Infrastructure developed rapidly, railways and the first metro lines were built. The embankments of the Thames were covered in stone, and a life-saving sewer system was created. Civil construction was actively carried out. Important medical discoveries were made, education developed. Lisa Picard describes everyday life in London. She shows the reader schools and prisons, churches and cemeteries. The book illustrates interesting details taken from previously unpublished diaries of ordinary Londoners, the history of a variety of things and phenomena - from umbrellas, mailboxes and toilets to the emergence of left-hand traffic and the construction of the subway. Along with this, the author also reveals the “dark side” of the era - outbreaks of cholera, the torture of convicts, public executions and the brutal exploitation of child labor. The book recreates in the most characteristic detail the splendor and poverty, ingenuity and energy, vices and pleasures of Victorian London.