Rosie Harte

victoriana

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Victoriana

Rosie Harte has an eye for those illuminating details that reveal so much about the real people behind history

The Fall of the West

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight (Book 21)

The Mortons

Little Black Classics Box Set

A New History of the Victorians Through the Women They Ignored

Victorian history, as we know it, is a story of power, progress, and empire. It is also, overwhelmingly, a story of great men. But what if that is only half the picture? 
 
Across Britain and its empire, women were not standing on the sidelines, but working, inventing, organising, performing, and resisting at every level. Victoriana reveals a world far more dynamic – and far less orderly – than the one we think we know. This is not a history of exceptions, but of a hidden majority: women who helped build the Victorian world, even as it denied them recognition.

PRE-ORDER THE REVOLUTIONARY NEW HISTORY OF THE VICTORIANS NOW 
 
ALICE LOXTON says, 'Rosie Harte is a history trailblazer.' 
 
TRACY BORMAN says 'Rosie Harte has an eye for those illuminating details that reveal so much about the real people behind history.' 
 
In the tradition of Janina Ramirez's Femina and Emily Hauser's Mythica, VICTORIANA is the revolutionary new history of the Victorians through the extraordinary and ordinary women written out of it. 
 
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Victorian history, as we know it, is a story of power, progress, and empire. It is also, overwhelmingly, a story of great men. 
 
But what if that version of the past is only half the picture? 
 
Across Britain and its empire, women were not standing on the sidelines of change, but working, inventing, organising, performing, and resisting at every level of society, even as they were excluded from its official record. 
 
Here is Martha Grey, born into slavery and later a countess, who channelled her wealth into building communities across South Africa. Hertha Ayrton, an engineer whose work helped make electric light viable for everyday use. Cora Pearl, a courtesan who built a celebrity persona while reshaping the emerging beauty industry. Alongside them are coal miners and crime syndicates, political campaigners and professional athletes, artists, writers, and workers whose lives cut across the fault lines of class, race, and power. 
 
Victoriana, a groundbreaking history full of fascinating original research, reveals a world far more dynamic – and far less orderly – than the one we think we know. This is not a history of exceptions, but of a hidden majority: women who helped build the Victorian world, even as it denied them recognition. 
 
Sweeping, vivid, and sharply observed, Victoriana reframes a defining century, showing that to understand the Victorians, we need to see the whole story – starting with the women who were always part of it.

Rosie Harte is a historian, writer, and digital content creator with a focus on Victorian history and women’s stories. She runs the popular social media accounts @rosiehharte on TikTok (526.1k followers and 23.5 million likes), YouTube (258k subscribers) and Instagram (120k followers), where she shares her research on historical topics, with a special emphasis on bringing the overlooked and underrepresented narratives of the 19th century to a new generation. 
 
Rosie has contributed to written and broadcast journalism, with features in The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Independent, and appearances on BBC and ITV News. 
In addition to her digital work, Rosie collaborates with cultural institutions like the National Gallery, where she serves as a digital ambassador, and has worked on projects with the National Portrait Gallery, 10 Downing Street, and Netflix UK (The Crown & Bridgerton). She also contributed to the Sky History show Sex: A Bonkers History alongside Amanda Holden.

Victoriana

A New History of the Victorians Through the Women They Ignored

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