The ''Review of Reviews'' was a noted family of monthly journals founded in 1890–1893 by British reform journalist

William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst ed ...

(1849–1912). Established across three continents in London (1891), New York (1892) and Melbourne (1893), the ''Review of Reviews'', ''American Review of Reviews'' and ''Australasian Review of Reviews'' represented Stead's dream of a global publishing empire.

Founder, W.T. Stead

Stead was a career journalist who was drawn into reform politics in the 1880s, crusading through for such causes as British-Russian friendship, the reform of England's criminal codes, and the maintenance of international peace. He was most famous in Britain for having passed, almost single-handedly, the first child-protection law by investigating and reporting child vice and white slavery in a series of articles titled the " Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon", published in the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed int ...

'' in July 1885. As a result, the

Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 ( 48 & 49 Vict. c.69), or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes," was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the lat ...

raised the consent age for girls from thirteen to sixteen, similar to "statutory rape" laws in the United States. As editor of the London ''Pall Mall Gazette'' (1883–1889), Stead caused newspapers to appear the way they are today. He introduced cross-heads (section titles) and signed articles, popularized interviews, and started illustrations and indexing. An advanced

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, he was the first London editor to pay women equally with men. He authored many books, including ''The Truth about Russia'' (1888), ''If Christ Came to Chicago'' (1893), and ''The Americanization of the World'' (1902). His essay "How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic" (1886) is considered his first prediction of the sinking of the

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

; his novel ''From the Old World to the New'' (1892) was the second prediction. Stead himself died in the sinking of the ''Titanic'' in 1912.

The ''Review of Reviews''

The ''Review of Reviews'' was started in January 1890 by W.T. Stead and

Tit-Bits ''Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World'', more commonly known as ''Tit-Bits'', was a British weekly magazine founded by George Newnes, a founding figure in popular journalism, on 22 October 1881. History In 1886 ...

proprietor

Sir George Newnes Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was a British publisher and editing, editor and a founding figure in popular journalism. Newnes also served as a Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party Member of Parliament (United Kingdom ...

. It was originally to be called the ''Six Penny Monthly and Review of Reviews'', but this was changed at the last minute. According to Stead, it was "the maddest thing" he had yet done, on account that the venture had been decided on only a month before. The ''Review'' mirrored Stead's own over-active imagination and was written almost exclusively by him. Along with the dozens of magazine and book reviews it contained, it also included a running commentary of world events, entitled "The Progress of the World", and a character sketch of a current "celebrity". The first issue was an instant success, and opened with numerous facsimiled welcome messages which Stead had courted from various dignitaries of the time. However, Stead's relationship with Newnes came under strain when the latter strongly objected to Stead's scathing character sketch of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper (eventually published in March). Perhaps seeing this discord as a sign of things to come, Newnes severed ties, exclaiming that the whole venture was "turning his hair grey". After buying out Newnes's share, Stead shaped the ''Review'' after his own image. With article titles such as "Baby-killing as an Investment" and "Ought Mrs. Maybrick to be Tortured to Death?", Stead showed he had lost none of the sledge hammer force of his journalistic days. He also involved the ''Review'' in social work, setting up the "Association of Helpers" and even an adoption agency called "The Baby Exchange". Stead was an early supporter and speaker of the language

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

and devoted one page to its promulgation in every issue. In 1891–92, Stead founded the equally successful American and Australian editions of the ''Review'', and, in London, he added to his success with other literary triumphs, such as book series ''The Penny Poets'', ''Popular Penny Novels'' and ''Books for the Bairns'',Sally Wood-Lamont
W.T. Stead's Books for the Bairns
attackingthedevil.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2019. all published under the ''Reviews auspices. However, in spite of such apparent successes, without the business-like Newnes to guide him, Stead frequently drove the ''Review'' to death's door, despite the best efforts of his business manager, Edwin H. Stout. This was particularly the case during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

(1899–1902), when his pro-Boer stance caused sales to slump to critical levels. Stead's attempt to recoup his losses, with the launch of the ill-fated ''The Daily Paper'', was a complete failure and, almost bankrupt, he suffered a nervous breakdown. The ''Review'' somehow limped on, buoyed up by a narrow but devoted subscription base. But, following the loss of Stead in the

Titanic disaster The sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' had an estimated 2,224 pe ...

, it lost much of its force and, in c. 1917, was sold for just £25,000. It was eventually merged with ''World'' magazine and renamed the ''World Review'' in 1940. One of its latter editors was

Lovat Dickson Lovat Dickson, born Horatio Henry Lovat Dickson (June 30, 1902 – January 2, 1987), was a notable publisher and writer, the first Canadian to have a major publishing role in Britain. He is best known today for his biographies of Grey Owl, Ric ...

The ''American Review of Reviews''

The ''American Review of Reviews'' was edited by the American academic, journalist, and reformer, Albert Shaw. Published from New York, ''The American Review of Reviews'' ran simultaneously alongside its British counterpart. As such, it represented the views and concerns of participants in the trans-Atlantic culture of progressive reform so brilliantly discussed in Daniel T. Rodgers's ''Atlantic Crossings: Social Politics in a Progressive Age'' (1998). Shaw was part of the first generation of academic reformers, which included

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

(who was his classmate at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

). Born in Ohio, Shaw studied at

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...

and received his doctorate in government at Johns Hopkins in 1884. Declining an appointment at Cornell, Shaw became editor of the

Minneapolis Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

and a widely published author of books on municipal reform. The ''American Review of Reviews'' is one of the best primary sources on American reform between 1890 and 1920, providing not only a panoramic view of the range of reformers' interests, but also the ties between British and American progressives. By volume 3, however, its style had departed significantly from that of its British cousin. The ''American Review of Reviews'' ran until 1937, when it merged into ''

The Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current O ...

''.

References

External links

Selected volumes

Full-text on-line versions of the ''American Review of Reviews'' available via

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

: *Vol I: 1890: January–July (not found) *Vol II: 1890: August–January (not found)
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1891: August–January
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1892: January–June *Vol VI: 1892: July–December (not found) *Vol VII: 1893: January–June (not found) *Vol VIII: 1894: July–December (not found)
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1911: January–June
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1911 July–December
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1921 July–December
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1922: January–June
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1922: July–December {{DEFAULTSORT:Review of Reviews Political magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1890 Magazines disestablished in 1937 News magazines published in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Literary magazines published in Australia Defunct magazines published in Australia Magazines published in London Magazines published in New York City Magazines published in Melbourne