The document discusses Dicken's London during the Victorian era. While Britain experienced the Industrial Revolution, London's population exploded from around 1 million souls in 1800 to 4.5 million by 1880. As fashionable areas grew in the west, new docks were built in the east to solidify London's place as the world's trade center. However, the biggest factor influencing London's expansion was the arrival of the railroad in the 1830s, which accelerated the city's growth.