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Production
Notes
There
once lived, in a sequestered part of the county of Devonshire?
-
Charles Dickens, the first line of Nicholas Nickleby
From
one of Charles Dickens? most masterful novels come some of his most
unforgettable characters, vibrantly and movingly brought to life
by a star-studded, award-winning cast.
In
Nicholas Nickleby, when his father dies, young Nicholas?
family is left penniless, and he, his sister, and his mother venture
to London to seek help from their wealthy Uncle Ralph. Unfortunately,
Ralph?s intentions are less than beneficent, and the family is split
apart. Nicholas is sent to teach at Dotheboys Hall, a squalid school
for orphan boys run by the cruel and abusive Wackford Squeers. Within
the dark, grim walls of Dotheboys, Nicholas befriends a kindhearted
and mistreated boy named Smike, and together they run away, setting
off on an adventure to reunite the Nickleby family and build a new
home of their own.
United
Artists is proud to present a Hart Sharp Entertainment production
of Nicholas Nickleby in association with Cloud Nine Films.
The talented ensemble includes Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay,
Alan Cumming, Edward Fox, Romola Garai, Anne Hathaway, Barry Humphries,
Charlie Hunnam, Nathan Lane, Christopher Plummer, Timothy Spall,
and Juliet Stevenson. Based on the novel by Charles Dickens, Nicholas
Nickleby was written for the screen and directed by Douglas
McGrath. Produced by Simon Channing Williams, John N. Hart, and
Jeffrey Sharp, the film was executive produced by Gail Egan, Robert
Kessel, and Michael Hogan. The impressive roster of filmmakers include
director of photography Dick Pope, production designer Eve Stewart,
editor Lesley Walker, costume designer Ruth Myers, and composer
Rachel Portman, with line producer Robert How, hair designer Simon
Thompson, and make-up designer Sarah Monzani.
ABOUT
THE PRODUCTION
Academy
Award®-nominated writer/director Douglas McGrath is best known
for his acclaimed adaptation of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow.
But even before Emma, he?s long been interested in telling
the story of Nicholas Nickleby. "Many years ago I saw the
landmark Royal Shakespeare Company production that ran nine and
a half hours long," he says. "It was the most thrilling theatrical
experience I ever had, and I never got it out of my head. It was
absolutely amazing.
"Strangely
enough, though," he continues, "as I was watching it, I saw there
was a fairly simple way to cut it down and make a good movie by
just following Nicholas? story ? the heart of the story ? which
is a perfectly gripping and wonderful tale in itself."
As
actor Timothy Spall says, "It?s a bit like getting an ostrich into
a thermos flask," but when it came time to choose a new project,
McGrath took up the challenge of adapting ? and condensing ? Dickens?
epic novel. The result is a streamlined screenplay that pays homage
to Dickens? complex, witty tale and does justice to the vast scope
of Nickleby?s incredible, humorous, and touching journey.
The
hill has not yet listed its face to heaven
that
perseverance will not gain the summit of at last.
- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
Once
McGrath finished a draft of the script, he showed it to producers
John Hart and Jeffrey Sharp of Hart Sharp Productions, a New York-based
production company whose recent credits include Boys Don?t Cry
and You Can Count on Me. After reading the screenplay, they
were immediately smitten with young Nicholas and his colorful circle
of friends and enemies.
"I
fell in love with Douglas? adaptation," says Sharp. "I felt the
story was every bit as relevant to our world today as when it was
written. Dickens was one of the foremost social commentators of
his day. Particularly with Nicholas Nickleby, as its serialization
progressed in the newspapers, it uncovered many injustices in the
way children were treated at the time. I also love Dickens? theme
of creating a family in the absence of one, which is what Nicholas
does throughout his journey."
With
a script in their hands, McGrath and the producers decided to hold
a dramatic staged reading to explore the material and get a better
picture of what they had. "We knew it would give Doug a personal
opportunity to hear his words for the first time with actors," says
Hart, "and for us as producers to get a sense of how the adaptation
would work with an audience. We also wanted to invite potential
studio distribution executives. In particular, Bingham Ray from
United Artists expressed early interest in the project and was a
big fan of Doug?s from Emma."
On
Mondays in New York City, most theatres are dark and the performers
have the day off. That made it possible to assemble an excellent
group of actors for the reading. "We really hit the jackpot," says
Sharp. "Nathan Lane was starring in ?The Producers? at the time,
so he came. Tim Curry joined us. Christopher Plummer, Alan Cumming,
Anne Hathaway ? just an incredible assortment of talented individuals.
The reading exceeded our wildest dreams." UA?s Ray was also impressed,
and he greenlit the project; a new Nickleby was well on its
way.
"The
read-through was a joyful experience," McGrath adds. "We had twenty
or so actors lined up in chairs across the stage doing no movement
whatsoever, just reading from their scripts, and you could feel
the power the story had over the audience. You heard the sniffling
and laughing. It?s really a tribute to how strong these characters
are, and how rich and involving the story is. Without costumes,
sets, lights, or any kind of action, the power of the story really
holds."
The
actors felt the magic of the read-through as well. "We had a terrific
time," says Nathan Lane. "It was a wonderful group."
"A
whole load of mad people were there reading the script," adds Alan
Cumming, "and a whole load of mad people were in the audience. It
was fun, good Dickensian drama right in the middle of New York City."
Anne
Hathaway says, "I was sandwiched between Christopher Plummer and
Nathan Lane. I don?t even think I could say my first line because
I was so impressed by the surroundings. As soon as we finished,
we knew it would make a great film."
Another
benefit of the read-through? Many of those same actors found themselves
starring in the film as well.
"The
pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again."
-
Nicholas in Nicholas Nickleby
When
the cast and crew finally came together to begin filming, everyone
was excited and energized by the roster of on- and off-screen talent
the filmmakers had assembled to bring Nicholas Nickleby to life.
People were attracted to the project by the opportunity to work
with Douglas McGrath and the chance to enter Dickens? enchanting
and much-celebrated world ? and to bring to life its characters.
Producer
Simon Channing Williams has a history of working on accomplished
ensemble pictures. He joined the project as a response to the richness
of the script and its plethora of great roles. "It's hard to shape
memorable characters," Channing Williams says, "but Doug has done
that with this script, and he's done it over and over again. It's
terrific, and the presence of such fine acting talent throughout
the film pays tribute to what Doug has written and allows that talent
to produce some really superb performances."
Nathan
Lane, who plays Vincent Crummles in the film, adds, "Doug attracted
such a tremendous cast because the screenplay is so well written.
Having read the novel again recently in preparation for the film,
I was even more impressed by what Doug has done. He?s captured the
language and humor and included all the great things everyone loves
about the novel. It?s a really masterful job."
The
producers also felt McGrath also did a great job of tapping into
the essence of Dickens. "Doug?s way into Dickens is quite straightforward,"
says Sharp. "He believes good conquers evil, and that?s very refreshing.
Doug is almost from a different time where manners and a sense of
courteousness and decorum actually matter. He invests such a sense
of optimism into everything he does it would be impossible not to
go out and make his movie."
Charlie
Hunnam has praise for McGrath?s way with actors. "Doug creates an
environment for an actor where they feel safe and confident with
the material," he says. "From my initial meeting with him I was
really excited about the prospect of working with such an articulate,
thoughtful, and kind man."
Juliet
Stevenson, who plays Mrs. Squeers, had worked with McGrath before.
"We worked together on Emma," she says, "and I loved working
with him. He?s a delight, he?s very open to ideas, and he runs a
very friendly unit."
And
the film?s Mr. Folair, Alan Cumming, is also a previous collaborator.
"The thing about Doug," he says, "is that he gets nice groups of
people together. Having a good time on set is important to him."
Romola
Garai, who portrays Nicholas? sister, Kate, enjoyed McGrath?s vision.
"Nicholas Nickleby, like all of Dickens, has been reinterpreted
in many different ways," she says, "but Doug is genuinely trying
to offer something different and fresh. He was really engaged in
the realities of Victorian life. Perhaps because he?s from the United
States he?s able to analyze a situation better from the outside.
In England we?re so entrenched in our culture and literature that
it?s great to have new and interesting minds to analyze our books."
For
his part, Tom Courtenay (who plays Newman Noggs) quips, "Doug is
lovely and laughs at my jokes ? what more could I want?"
The
Cast and Characters
"When
I speak of home, I speak of the place where?
those I love are gathered together;
and if that place were a gypsy's tent, or a barn,
I should call it by the same good name notwithstanding."
-
Nicholas in Nicholas Nickleby
In
looking at the hundreds of characters Dickens created in his writings,
Nicholas Nickleby is one of his most pure. "There are no flaws in
Nicholas other than his desire to overcome evil and reunite his
family," says Sharp.
"For
young people today, it?s very hard to find a hero to really root
for," he continues. "There are superheroes ? Spiderman, Batman and
the like ? but I think Nicholas is a character they can relate to
from their own world. In high schools across the globe, students
are grappling with issues of violence and evil. It?s important they
can identify with a character like Nicholas. In a world as violent
as ours, it?s important for everyone."
Through
his adventures, Nickleby faces an incredible series of trials and
heartbreaks. As a result, he changes a lot over the course of the
film and grows from a naïve teenager into a man. It?s a tricky
part to play, and casting Nicholas was naturally of tantamount importance
to the success of the project.
"While
keeping within the character Dickens created," says Hart. "Doug
envisioned a Nicholas that also embodied a flare of modernity that
would appeal to younger audiences. We spent a good while looking
for a unique blend of young and handsome, dashing and contemporary,
yet someone who had the maturity to pull off a very serious role.
"Charlie
has that sense of gravity about him," Hart continues, "and has a
very strong presence. He was so passionate about the role he flew
himself to New York to meet with us. He delivered his lines with
a sense of authority that was quite special for someone his age.
He really embodies the wonderful, wide-eyed optimism of the character."
McGrath
adds, "Charlie has many important qualities he brings to the role,
not least of which is his youth. Nicholas is often cast older than
he is, but he?s supposed to be nineteen. To me that?s one of the
key points in the story ? someone that young has been cut loose
and finds himself the head of the family. Charlie?s look helps to
sell that dilemma, and he has a natural warmth and vigor which help
the audience identify with his situation."
Of
his character, Hunnam says, "Nicholas is a quiet, well-mannered,
very moral young man." It?s precisely because Nicholas is such a
good person, though, that he?s so apt to fall victim to bad situations
and evildoers. "Having grown up in the quiet Devonshire countryside,"
Hunnam continues, "he?s never really encountered people like his
Uncle Ralph. He?s very trusting and honest himself, and doesn?t
realize that not everybody is like that."
?there
was something in [his] very wrinkles,
and in his cold restless eye,
which seemed to tell of cunning
that would announce itself in spite of him.
-
Charles Dickens, describing Ralph Nickleby
Nickleby?s
Uncle Ralph is played to grim perfection by Christopher Plummer,
a revered actor of stage and film. Nickleby is an ensemble
piece, but Plummer?s character is quite important to the whole ?
Ralph?s actions ultimately affect each and every other character
in the story.
"Ralph
Nickleby is a delectable character to sink one?s teeth into," says
Plummer. "He?s a complex man, a businessman whose aim in life has
been only to protect his interests and those of his select friends.
Nicholas and his sister are Ralph?s nephew and niece, but he doesn?t
feel the same as they do about the bonds of family ? he never has.
At the end of the film, it?s that one major flaw for which he pays
the ultimate price."
That
said, Plummer doesn?t feel his character is completely unworthy
of sympathy. "It?s often hard to picture how our actions affect
others," says Plummer. "Unforunately, Ralph doesn?t see the effects
of his actions until it?s too late. Ultimately, he sees what he?s
done, and I believe he truly regrets it. His actions aren?t excusable,
but at least one is able to see a small kernel of humanity in Ralph
Nickleby, and, ultimately, a small glimmer of hope, even for the
wicked."
Mr.
Squeer?s appearance was not prepossessing.
He
had but one eye, and the popular prejudice runs in favor of two.
- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
Nickleby?s
Uncle Ralph sends him to work at Dotheboys Hall under the watchful,
evil eye of wicked Wackford Squeers, his icy wife, and creepy family.
Recent Oscarâ -winner Jim Broadbent was recruited to play
Squeers, with Juliet Stevenson as his wife.
"Wackford
Squeers is one of the nastiest men in fiction," says Broadbent.
"I love playing the villain, and it?s been a while since I?ve played
anyone so horrid. I?ve played a lot of benevolent characters and
it?s good to find the unpleasant side of oneself."
"Mr.
and Mrs. Squeers are fantastically sadistic people," adds Stevenson.
"They?re completely uneducated people who?ve discovered a way of
making money by running a school for unwanted boys. They have an
enormous passion for each other and their own two children, who
are disgustingly spoiled and overindulged."
As
to why the Squeers have such a violent reaction towards Nickleby,
Stevenson says, "Nicholas is so good and stands for things which
are just contemptible to the Squeers, things like compassion, justice
and pity. We also explored the idea that Mrs. Squeers is actually
attracted to Nicholas. This young boy with amazing blonde hair comes
into this dark, grimy place, and she can?t quite bear it. In some
strangely quasi-sexual way, her cruelty to him is tinged with desire."
"I
have not so many friends that I shall grow confused
among
the number, and forget my best one."
- Nicholas in Nicholas Nickleby
However
horrifying Nickleby?s sojourn at Dotheboys, good does come of it.
It is there that Nickleby meets beaten-down orphan Smike ? and it
is there the film finds its other hero. Played by young Jamie Bell,
Smike is literally twisted by misfortune and has led an exceedingly
miserable life, but Nicholas brings a ray of kindness and hope into
Smike?s dark world.
"A
lot of people see Smike as a half-wit," says Bell, "but he?s actually
quite clever. He just has no education." Nicholas opens Smike?s
eyes to a world with actual possibilities instead of just abject
sadness. "Before Nicholas comes to Dotheboys, Smike probably hasn?t
cracked a smile for years. He?s very weary, but Nicholas helps him
relax. Once Smike trusts Nicholas, Smike opens up in a whole new
way with a mixture of emotions, new adventures and new experiences.
You don?t often get the chance to play a character like Smike."
In Nicholas, Smike finds a companion and brother, and together they
escape Dotheboys and set off on their own. The story is Nicholas
Nickleby?s, but the heart of the story becomes as much Smike?s as
it is Nicholas? own.
Smike
nodded his head and smiled, but expressed no other emotion;
for
whether they had been bound for Portsmouth or Port Royal would have
been alike to him, so they had been bound together.
- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
As
they begin their journey together, Nicholas and Smike meet a smorgasbord
of unforgettable characters portrayed by a remarkable assortment
of talent from both sides of the Atlantic. Relative newcomers Hunnam
and Bell were in awe of the cast and were glad to have each other
on set.
"It
was a little intimidating going into these scenes with such heavyweight
actors," says Hunnam, "so it was great having Jamie around. There
was an easiness between us, and it was like we were discovering
everything as we went along together.
"And
there was so much to learn from this cast," he continues. "Watching
Christopher Plummer work through his role was amazing, an unforgettable
lesson in how to create a character. We were very fortunate. You
can go to acting school for a hundred years and not learn as much
as working with these guys on a film."
Great
fun is brought to the movie with the arrival of the Crummles? theatrical
troupe. They bring "a sense of color and lightness and fun" according
to Nathan Lane, who portrays Vincent Crummles. Alan Cumming, who
plays Mr. Folair, says, "All of a sudden, after Nickleby?s darkest
moments, there are all these people being silly and daft and camping
about. Douglas didn?t need to ensure that we kept it light ? with
Nathan Lane and Barry Humphries in a room together, you have a dangerous
cocktail for silliness."
Nicholas
Nickleby was originally published in installments. To that,
Alan Cumming says, "If Dickens was alive now he?d be writing classy
soap operas. Since his stories were originally published in magazines
and newspapers, they?re episodic. That?s why they make really good
films: there are constant highs and lows in satisfying bite-sized
morsels. In a way Dickens is quite modern ? he understood people
have quite short attention spans."
Working
on material inspired by Dickens was certainly a draw for Timothy
Spall, who portrays Charles Cheeryble. "Dickens is one of my favorite
authors and always has been," he says. "I love him because what
he says on one level can seem quite simplistic and sentimental,
and on another it?s universal and very, very powerful. Not many
people are that complex in their writing about the human condition
while still being entertaining."
Thus
two people who cannot afford to play cards for money,
sometimes
sit down to a quiet game of love.
- Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
Anne
Hathaway, the film?s Madeline Bray, has her own take on what makes
Nickleby?s journey so fantastic. "Although we follow Nicholas? journey,
the young characters, Kate, Madeline, and Smike, are a lovely foil.
These young people are trying to make lives for themselves in a
world that has not been constructed by them. They deal with it,
try to be good people, and find happiness despite adversity through
love and helping each other."
As
McGrath explains, "One of the harsh truths of the film is that there
is evil in the world. How do you go into a world that is full of
hostile and unsympathetic people and find the good people? How do
you resist the bad ones and hold on to your natural honor?" Overcoming
these obstacles is what makes Nicholas such an inspiring hero. "Nicholas
battles the various villains that confront him and retains his own
innate goodness, coming out a better, stronger person," says McGrath.
All
in all, McGrath is incredibly pleased with the end result of their
hard work. "There?s everything in it for an audience," he says.
"We get to see someone much like ourselves going through the same
kinds of struggles ? moral questions, money questions, love questions
? all enhanced by being seen through the prism of Dickens? world.
We get to see a story that comes out quite happily, yet is not simplistic
or easy ? a rich and complicated story that doesn?t deny its villains
their humanity nor its heroes their weaknesses. For me, it?s an
extremely gratifying story because it satisfies on so many different
levels."
"It's
always something, to know you've done the most you could.
But,
don't leave off hoping, or it's of no use doing anything.
Hope, hope, to the last!"
- Newman Noggs to Nicholas Nickleby
The
Look of the Film
Nicholas
Nickleby was filmed over twelve weeks on location in London
and Yorkshire during spring 2002.
Production
designer Eve Stewart spoke to McGrath early on in the project and
asked that the film?s narrative be moved from the 1830s when it
was originally set to the 1850s, feeling the film?s look and feel
would benefit from such a change. "I wanted to explore more of the
Industrial Revolution," she says, "and to show the real difference
between the idyllic, rural Devon and the Babylonian Mecca that was
London at that time." McGrath agreed to this suggestion, and felt
it also helped to develop the narrative thread, as the Nicklebys
would need to make sense of this new world and find their way through
it.
In
giving the film its rich, textured visuals, the production also
benefited from designer Stewart?s close working relationship with
director of photography Dick Pope; the two have collaborated on
four films. "I understand the things he likes to see and the types
of color he uses," Stewart says.
Of
the director, Stewart says, "Working with Doug is fantastic. We
share a lot of the same humor, the same sense of the macabre. As
I?m British, I?ve grown up with rather macabre fairy tales and things
that have a dark side. As an American, I think he?s been fascinated
to explore that."
To
this end the production packed the London street scenes with ghastly
period details. The undertaker has a coffin with dead infants on
display. "That was a true detail," says Stewart. "I found the babies
in an advertisement for an undertakers. A set of quads had died,
and in return for the babies the family was given a free funeral.
It?s all really horrifying, but I was intrigued to explore that
side of London at that time. People didn?t care about life so much.
It was very transitory; you died young and were dispensable, especially
if you were poor. But I also wanted to show the humor and wit of
Dickens, and have taken quite a lot from Murphy?s cartoons of the
time."
Dick
Pope?s use of lighting was another very important aspect of the
film?s look. "Doug and I talked endlessly about that," says Pope.
"He had this vision of luminosity, faces standing out in dark frame.
Everything would fade away around the face, and it would stand out,
perfectly lit. We?ve explored that quality. I also really like making
period lighting authentic. Believable period lighting is a real
challenge, and I love exploring this with lanterns, candles and
source lighting."
Ruth
Meyers, the film?s costume designer, has worked on three films with
McGrath. "When you get a script from Doug," she says, "it?s pretty
clear the sort of things he?s looking for. He is very descriptive
in his dialogue and in what he writes about the film. Since it?s
quite a gray film, it was interesting to lighten it wherever possible,
like with the theatricals and the wedding. These moments are like
little champagne bubbles within the story.
"We?ve
deliberately gone for mid-Victorian looks and everything that means,"
Meyers continues. "The clothing is less frivolous than the earlier
period, and has a structured English establishment look. This becomes
very important to the film, since so much of the story hinges on
morality."
The
location manager, Ben Rimmer, scouted the Yorkshire moors looking
for a Victorian building with an evil quality to stand in for Dotheboys
Hall. He came upon Gibson Mill in Hardcastle Crags. Once a working
textile mill, the building is now unused and is soon to be converted
into a National Trust Visitors? Centre. The reality of the place
contributed to its sinister nature. "It?s always a bonus filming
at real locations," says Jim Broadbent. "Using an unheated, brutal
stone Yorkshire building was particularly good at giving us a good
kick start into the project."
The
scenes involving the Crummles theatre troupe were filmed at Wilton
Music Hall in the East End. Originally built as a music hall, the
building is now used both as a theatre and an entertainment venue.
Some of the Victorian street scenes were filmed in Princelet Street
in the East End, but the majority was built in a studio in Bushey.
Other locations used include Leighton House and Luton Hoo Mansion,
while some of the interiors were built at Elstree Studios.
Charles
Dickens
Every
baby born into the world is a finer one than the last.
-
Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
Charles
Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812, then his family moved to
London in 1822. Soon thereafter, his father was sent to Marshalsea
Debtors? Prison for three months, and young Charles was employed
in a blacking warehouse, labeling bottles. In 1827 he became a solicitor?s
clerk, and five years later a parliamentary reporter. He published
his first story in 1833, and the following year became a reporter
on the Morning Chronicle. In 1836 he married Catherine Hogarth,
the daughter of the editor of the Evening Chronicle, and
together they had ten children.
Dickens
first major novel, Pickwick Papers, was published in 1837.
From then on, Dickens published fifteen novels (often in weekly
or monthly installments in periodicals and newspapers), an autobiography,
edited weekly periodicals, and wrote travel books. A theatre enthusiast,
he wrote many plays, and he performed before Queen Victoria in 1851.
In 1853 he gave the first of many public readings of his work.
Dickens?
grave concerns about social injustice were reflected in his written
work, and those concerns carried over into his everyday life. During
his life, he pressed for slum clearance, educational reforms, and
improved sanitary measures for the poor. Dickens was a patron of
the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, and was instrumental
in encouraging the Little Sisters of the Poor to come from France
to England to establish a home for the old and destitute. In the
United States, Dickens lectured against slavery.
Dickens
was estranged from his wife in 1858, and maintained relations with
his mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan, until his death of a stroke
in 1870. He is buried at Westminster Abbey.
Nicholas
Nickleby: the novel
Published
in 1839, Nicholas Nickleby was Dickens? third full-length
work of fiction, following Pickwick Papers and Oliver
Twist.
In
Oliver Twist, Dickens had exposed some of the social injustices
brought about by the Poor Law, and he was keen to continue his quest
for reform in Nicholas Nickleby. In January 1838, Dickens
and his illustrator, Hablot Browne, traveled to Yorkshire to investigate
the conditions of a number of schools promoting themselves through
newspaper advertisements. There they encountered William Shaw, headmaster
of Bowes Academy at Greta Bridge (where the fictional Dotheboys
Hall is located), in whose school several boys had died or gone
blind from mistreatment and neglect. Visiting a cemetery in the
area, Dickens found the graves of many of these students, and one
in particular gave rise to the character of Smike.
By
the time Dickens came to write his 1848 preface to a later edition
of the novel, he was able to announce that in the decade since the
work had first been published nearly all Yorkshire boarding schools
had been forced to close down.
Dickens
was fascinated by the theatre, and claims to have attended a show
of some sort every night for about three years during his early
adulthood. He was also an enthusiastic amateur performer, and Nicholas
Nickleby is even dedicated to another actor, William Charles
Macready. His inclusion in the novel of the hugely entertaining
and humorous episode with the Crummles troupe not only brings some
light relief to the preceding drama, but also enabled him to celebrate
the eccentric world of the stage he knew so well and loved so much.
The
Era
The
film of Nicholas Nickleby is set in the 1850s. Below is a
timeline of some world events around that time:
1837 Queen
Victoria ascends the throne
1838 Regular
Atlantic steamship service begins
1840 Queen
Victoria marries Prince Albert
1846
The Penny Post begins
Potato
failure in Europe; starvation in Ireland; the Corn Laws
(which
kept up the price of grain) were repealed
1849 Gold
is discovered in California and Australia
1856
The Crimean War
1858
The Indian Mutiny
1861
The first Trans-Atlantic cable is laid
1865
The American Civil War
The
sun does not shine upon this fair earth to meet frowning eyes, depend
upon it.
-
Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
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