Time Travel Twins: The Victorian Revolution

By Author / Illustrator

Josh Lacey, Garry Parsons

Genre

Historical Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Andersen Press

ISBN

9781839137037

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

26-02-2026

Synopsis

Join twins Scarlett and Thomas as they use Grandad's time machine to travel back to Victorian London!

Scarlett meets Princess Victoria and heads to the grand opening of the Great Exhibition, witnessing amazing inventions. Meanwhile, Thomas with some friends, sneaks in but gets caught and imprisoned! Can Scarlett rescue Thomas and get them back home?

'A brilliant resource ... closes with an extended historical note' CLPE

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Reviews

Jane

Earlier in the Time Travel Twins series, we met the two main characters, Scarlett and Thomas, so we know that they will go to great lengths to do their homework and that they love their inventor-grandad. In Time Travel Twins: The Victorian Revolution, the twins use his time machine again to visit 19th Century London for the opening of Prince Albert's Great Exhibition.

Separated in the wormhole, they arrive in 1851 in two completely different places and in very different circumstances. Scarlett gets to enjoy the 'Crystal Palace' in company of esteemed VIPs: Henry Pole (whose idea it was), Joseph Paxton (its designer), the esteemed Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Queen Victoria's young daughter, Vicky.

Thomas, meanwhile, lands in the poverty-stricken home of Karl Marx and his daughter, Jennychen. She and Thomas must use their own ingenuity if they're to see the exhibition: poor people, communists (like Marx and his friend Engels) and Chartists demonstrating for workers' rights, are definitely not welcome.

Parsons' animated drawings combine with Lacey's uncomplicated writing style to make this a super-readable adventure and an inventive way to learn about an important primary school topic. It could work particularly well read aloud in Years 3 & 4 (ages 7-9). I valued the addition of historical notes. Recommended for the school library Historical Fiction collection to accompany the others in this series.

256 pages / Reviewed by Jane Rew, school librarian