With Queen Victorian coming to the throne in 1837, the Victorian era saw a continuation of the industrial, political and social change of the Georgian era. In a time of Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens, a railway and shipping boom and the first telephone and telegraph, we also see the demise of rural life, as cities rapidly expand, people get increasing voting and economic rights and the British Empire becomes the most powerful in the world. Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Edwardian era, which corresponded with the French Belle Epoque, was an era of prosperity. Known for elegance and luxury amongst the rich and powerful it also saw the first signs of demise of British imperialism and the economic rise of the United States and Germany in the lead up to World War 1. The Victorians and Edwardians is the eighth release in the groundbreaking Historyzone series of albums charting the history of the world