142 Strand was the home of the brilliant, unconventional young publisher John Chapman. All the daring and avant-garde writers and thinkers of Victorian London gathered here. This work aims to take the reader to the heart of Victorian culture, uncovering its surprising energy, its doubts and arguments, and, its passionate reforming spirit.

Chapman's circle touched all these worlds, and the vivid story of these unconventional lives and unorthodox views - vividly told by Rosemary Ashton - takes us to the heart of Victorian culture, uncovering its surprising energy, its doubts and arguments, and, above all, its passionate reforming spirit.