What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew
From Fox Hunting to Whist - the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England
by Daniel Pool
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
For anyone who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell "Tally Ho!" at a fox hunt, or how one landed in "debtor's prison," this book serves as an indispensable historical and literary resource. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the "plums" in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life—both "upstairs" and "downstairs.
An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from "ague" to "wainscoting," the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
October 2, 2012 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781439144800
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781439144800
- File size: 9557 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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June 28, 1993
Devotees of Austen, Dickens, the Brontes and the like will enjoy this overview of everyday English life in the era depicted by that nation's greatest novelists. As an aid for readers of vintage fiction, Pool, a lawyer turned freelance writer, has compiled more than 60 short chapters that cover the public, private and ``grim'' aspects of life in 19th-century England, appending a long glossary and a bibliography. Beyond his lucid presentation of the historical facts, Pool offers a series of intriguing narratives: tracing the evolution of the hunt, for example, and explaining the persistence of grave robbers. Frequent references to well-known novels help elucidate institutions, customs and practices that have for the most part lapsed into obscurity. At times, these constant examples become monotonous; but fans of the English novel, even if they have a low tolerance for secondhand Trollope, will want to have this useful volume at hand. Illustrations. BOMC, QPB and History Book Club alternates. -
April 18, 1994
This useful guide to Victorian life enlightens on such subjects as grave robbing, debtors' prison and putrid fever. Illustrations. BOMC, QPB and History Book Club alternates.
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