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Home / Historical Periods / Victorian and Edwardian Britain / Edwardian Era

Period

Edwardian Era

1901–1914 CE

The Edwardian Era ran from 1901 to 1914 and is often remembered as the last pre-war phase of British society. It retained aristocratic display and imperial confidence while facing labour unrest, suffrage campaigns, Irish Home Rule, naval rivalry and social reform. The period looks polished from a distance, but it was politically and socially unstable.

Its importance lies in the sense of transition. Old hierarchies were still visible in country houses, clubs and colonial ceremonies, but mass politics, women’s activism, socialism and international tension were changing the ground beneath them. Edwardian history is therefore especially useful for stories set on the edge of rupture.

Edwardian-set fiction often sits between Victorian inheritance and the catastrophe of World War I. E. M. Forster, Ford Madox Ford and later historical novelists use the period for class anxiety, empire, gender politics and social change, while novels such as A. S. Byatt's The Children's Book and Julian Fellowes-style country-house fiction draw on the same pre-war tension. It is a useful bridge for series pages that connect suffrage, servants, imperial confidence, aristocratic decline and the last years before 1914.

Related people for Edwardian Era

Adolf Hitler1889–1945 Belle Elmorec. 1873–1910 Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig1861–1928 Ethel Le Neve1883–1967 George VI1895–1952 H. H. Asquith1852–1928 Hawley Harvey Crippen1862–1910 Manfred von Richthofen1892–1918 Siegfried Sassoon1886–1967 Victoria1819–1901 Vladimir Lenin1870–1924 Walter Dew1863–1947 Wilhelm II1859–1941 Winston Churchill1874–1965 Woodrow Wilson1856–1924

Series

Series about Edwardian Era (3 series)

Ladies of the Manor in Order

by Roseanna M. White 3 books 4.6

The Ladies of the Manor trilogy combines Edwardian romance with inheritance disputes, aristocratic rivalries and a mystery surrounding the coveted Fire Eyes diamonds. Moving from Yorkshire estates to the Scottish Highlands and continental society, the books follow women whose claims to family, love and independence place them in…

The Imposters in Order

by Roseanna M. White 3 books 4.5

The Imposters follows an Edwardian private-investigation firm whose aristocratic members use disguise, social access and specialised talents to investigate crimes concealed within elite society. The series combines romantic suspense with intelligence work, kidnapping, blackmail and political secrets in the years before the First World War.

The Secrets of the Isles in Order

by Roseanna M. White 3 books 4.4

The Secrets of the Isles trilogy is set in the Isles of Scilly in 1906, where scientific curiosity, family secrets and legends of buried treasure draw three couples into linked investigations. The novels combine Edwardian romance with island history, archaeology, piracy and Arthurian tradition.

Books

30 Best Novels About the Edwardian Era

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.

Non Fiction

5 Non-Fiction Books About the Edwardian Era

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.