Books by Michelle Higgs

Practical guide to the history of lunatic asylums and the lives of their patients.

Michelle Higgs combines a rich narrative of the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian England that will fascinate social history lovers with original sources helpful for students of the period. This title will also appeal to the audience captivated by recent popular costume dramas such as Ripper Street and Downton Abbey.

Life in a workhouse during the Victorian and Edwardian eras has been popularly characterised as a brutal existence. This book establishes a true picture of what life was like in a workhouse, of why inmates entered them and of what they had to endure in their day-to-day routine.