The Victorian HomefrontIn The Victorian Homefront, Louise L. Stevenson offers a concise and fascinating portrait of the intellectual lives of ordinary Americans from the Civil War through Reconstruction. She begins where any Victorian would: in the parlor, with an analysis of the material trappings of middle class self improvement. From parlor tables and reading chairs, albums and stereoscopes, and houseplants and fancywork, she moves to the books and reading activities