The book provides an engaging and accessible overview of the most important artists of the period. Eminent scholars offer insights into their artistic subjects, styles, and techniques, as well as into the role of the Royal Academy in the age of Queen Victoria. More than 70 works of art are catalogued in depth, including many that are reproduced here for the first time. The book also includes biographies of the artists featured, each illustrated with a contemporary photograph.

This book will be the catalogue for an exhibition that will be at the Denver Art Museum from 15 May to 15 August 1999, and then travel to the Frye Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington, the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida, the National Academy Museum in New York, and the Cincinnati Art Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.