Altick (English, Ohio State U.) systematically explores the first decade of the popular Victorian periodical, especially as it mirrored the interests and world view of its predominantly middle-class readership. He shows how the editorial and pictoral contents blended numerous streams of popular and middlebrow culture into a distinctive style of humor projected against historical evidence from the London Times and other contemporary documents. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

"The Punch Brotherhood takes the reader inside this Victorian institution, bringing to life the tightly-knit community of writers, artists, and proprietors who gathered around the Punch Table, and the tumultuous, uninhibited conversations, spiced with jokes and gossip."--Book flap.