Secret Commissions
Lurid, controversial, and vulnerable to accusations of titillation or rabble-rousing, the works of Victorian investigative journalism collected here nonetheless brought unseen suffering into the light of day. Even today their exposure has the power to shock. As one investigator promised, “The Report of our Secret Commission will be read to-day with a shuddering horror that…
Secret Commissions reviewed in Victorian Periodicals Review
Stephen Donovan and Matthew Rubery’s unique anthology of Victorian investigative journalism, Secret Commissions, was recently reviewed by Ann M. Hale (University of St. Thomas) in the Spring 2013 issue of the Victorian Periodicals Review. Hale writes: “A key strength of Secret Commissions is that the content resonates with a range of disciplines, from media studies…
“…a shuddering horror that will thrill throughout the world.”
Stephen Donovan and Matthew Rubery’s unique new anthology Secret Commissions, published September 2012, collects nineteen works of investigative journalism from the Victorian age. The articles capture the frequently stark and sinister social conditions of nineteenth-century Britain, and bring to life the sense of horror and frustration surrounding such controversial issues as poverty, prostitution, and infanticide.…