1834年10月16日傍晚，令旁观者惊恐的是，一个巨大的火球穿过议会大厦的屋顶爆炸，产生了巨大的火焰，温莎的国王和王后以及南山山顶的舞台马车都能看到。在前面
数十万目击者目睹了这场大火，摧毁了议会宏伟的旧建筑及其内装物品。目睹这场灾难的人都不会忘记。
1834年10月的那一天发生的事件对同时代人来说，就像20世纪末戴安娜王妃的去世对我们来说一样令人震惊和重要——然而今天，这场全国性的灾难是一场被遗忘的灾难，尤其是因为巴里和普金纪念性的新威斯敏斯特宫
抹去了对其800年历史的前任的所有记忆。关于起火原因的谣言甚嚣尘上。是纵火、恐怖主义、外国特工的工作、厨房事故、粗心大意的建筑工人，甚至是对政客的神判？
在这本书中，议会档案馆馆长卡罗琳·申顿（Caroline Shenton）就这一主题出版了第一本长篇书，讲述了那场灾难性的日夜过程中发生的火灾的扣人心弦的故事。在这个过程中，她巧妙地描绘了当时的政治和社会背景，包括
威斯敏斯特的贫民窟和西区的疯狂扩张；伦敦爱尔兰人的困境；童工、福利和高层腐败；消防技术和浮式发动机；《大改革法案》和新的《穷人法》；斯温船长和约克明斯特纵火案；客厅
格鲁吉亚时期的公共建筑状况和记录；最重要的是，许多同时代人在一个国家标志的壮观陨落中看到了象征意义。
The Day Parliament Burned Down
In the early evening of 16 October 1834, to the horror of bystanders, a huge ball of fire exploded through the roof of the Houses of Parliament, creating a blaze so enormous that it could be seen by the King and Queen at Windsor, and from stagecoaches on top of the South Downs. In front of
hundreds of thousands of witnesses the great conflagration destroyed Parliament’s glorious old buildings and their contents. No one who witnessed the disaster would ever forget it.
The events of that October day in 1834 were as shocking and significant to contemporaries as the death of Princess Diana was to us at the end of the 20th century – yet today this national catastrophe is a forgotten disaster, not least because Barry and Pugin’s monumental new Palace of Westminster
has obliterated all memory of its 800 year-old predecessor. Rumours as to the fire’s cause were rife. Was it arson, terrorism, the work of foreign operatives, a kitchen accident, careless builders, or even divine judgement on politicians?
In this, the first full-length book on the subject, head Parliamentary Archivist Caroline Shenton unfolds the gripping story of the fire over the course of that fateful day and night. In the process, she paints a skilful portrait of the political and social context of the time, including details of
the slums of Westminster and the frenzied expansion of the West End; the plight of the London Irish; child labour, sinecures and corruption in high places; fire-fighting techniques and floating engines; the Great Reform Act and the new Poor Law; Captain Swing and arson at York Minster; the parlous
state of public buildings and records in the Georgian period; and above all the symbolism which many contemporaries saw in the spectacular fall of a national icon.
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