The Reviews had been there in Victorian era since the very beginning of the century, but they enjoyed nothing of the multiplicity, popularity and influence of The Review, in the new age. The Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly, The Monthly Review etc, is the names of a few of the most influential of the Reviews.
The Reviews did valuable service. With rise of readers of democracy and the spread of education, a new class of casual readers – Readers who had no time to read a full scale book – sprang into prominence, and The Reviews fulfilled admirably the needs of this class. Hence they enjoyed a wide circulation. They also served the casual writer who had not the time or the inclination to write a book.