The Crystal Palace: A Victorian Marvel
The Crystal Palace was one of the wonders of the Victorian world.
When it opened in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, Joseph Paxton's extraordinary palace of iron and glass was unlike anything Britain had seen before. More than six million visits were made to the exhibition, as people came to marvel at inventions, machinery, art and treasures gathered from across the globe.
But the story of the Crystal Palace had only just begun.
Dismantled and rebuilt on a magnificent scale at Sydenham, the palace became one of Victorian Britain's greatest attractions, a remarkable world of historical courts, exotic gardens, enormous fountains, spectacular concerts, sporting events and the famous prehistoric creatures that still inhabit Crystal Palace Park today.
For more than eighty years it dominated the south London skyline. It survived financial crisis, war and one devastating fire before, on the night of 30 November 1936, flames swept through the building and destroyed one of Britain's most recognisable landmarks.
The Crystal Palace - A Victorian Marvel tells the complete story of this extraordinary building: from Prince Albert and the Great Exhibition to Joseph Paxton's revolutionary design; from its astonishing construction in Hyde Park to its rebirth at Sydenham; and from the crowds, concerts and spectacles of its Victorian heyday to the dramatic fire that finally brought the age of the Crystal Palace to an end.
It also explores what remains today, the terraces, sphinxes, remarkable Victorian subway and famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs, and the lasting influence of a building intended to be temporary but which became an enduring symbol of an age.
A fascinating journey through the rise, fall and remarkable legacy of the world's most famous palace of glass.
Related Subjects
ArchitectureCustomer Reviews
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
