Jane Austen's England: Daily Life in the Georgian and Regency Periods

This would be more accurately titled, "England, during the period of time in which Austen just happened to be living," because having read the whole thing, I know almost nothing more than I did before reading it, about what prompted me to buy it at all: Jane Austen's England. The England that Jane Austen wrote about and lived in, which is to say, upper class and upper-middle class England. But this book, relying mostly on notes and diaries from those of lower classes, focuses on the plight of the poor or nearly poor, from birth to death. In that respect it is comprehensive, and if you want to read about the unfortunate reality of Regency or Georgian England for the lower classes, this book has it in spades. But if you want to know more about the customs and lives of the people who moved in the social circles in which Austen moved--or those in which her characters moved--you are wasting your time with this book. All it leaves you with is the firm conviction that most people back then led lives which were, as Hobbes put it, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

Overall, this is a great, informative book about the Georgian era. Though it took me a while to get through it, I enjoyed it and it was exactly what I was looking for. It has lots of really interesting information and tidbits about life in that era. If you're interested in the era, then this is the book for you! I've read "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool, which is an often cited history book for the era, but I thought this one was much better. There is a big difference between "pre" and "post" Industrial Revolution, and Pool's book didn't often differentiate between the Georgians and Victorians. This book focuses solely on the Georgians and pre-Industrial Revolution, so there's no confusion.I read this as an author who writes in this era, and I found a treasure trove of information. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that the organization felt a little haphazard. If I wanted to reference back to the book, I'd have a hard time finding the info I wanted because the chapters may have been themed, but there was a lot of off-shoots within the chapters that had nothing to do with the subject at hand. Granted, it was all interesting, but I didn't care for the organization.

I bought this book for my wife, who is a big Jane Austen fan. The book is not a novel; it has chapters about various aspects of life in England during the years of Jane Austen's life. I started reading the book myself and was captivated and surprised and much of the information--I read the entire book. The book is well written and has references to key sources to document the accuracy of the information.The book has chapters on living conditions, food, travel, health and medicine, crime, marriage, and many other topics. I learned that the characters in Jane Austen's books were wealthy and privileged, and thus they did not experience many of the challenges and hardships that most people experienced in England at that time.The book had many interesting and unexpected facts, such as: (1) people were put in jail for even minor crimes or even shipped out of the country, (2) grave robbers got body parts, such as real teeth from the dead that were then used as false teeth later for other people, (3) people did not want to travel much due to unmarked roads and robbers, and (4) even when they traveled, they did not want to stay at inns because of bed bugs (they sometimes sleep in the chairs instead of the beds because of this).Very interesting book. It helps you appreciate how some standardization of procedures and products today help us out so much.

This is a non fiction book, and tells much about the everyday life for people living in these eras, much more about the 99 percent, as well as the One percent that Austen wrote of. Very shocking info about the treatment of children and women, and of course the poor and disabled. Makes you grateful to live in the present time, as even an ordinary person living in the West, we are far more comfortable and free than the most wealthy privileged person in the past. Makes you appreciate your heat, hot water, easy transportation, medical innovations, etc. Very much a free for all in the past, with no regulations on adulterations of products, especially food, and work conditions for children and women, and most men. A very harsh reality. The workmanship people put into what they made was exquisite, but all relationships were driven by power politics, even intimate ones. Dangerous for the ordinary man to travel, there was frequent impressment into the Navy with no recourse. Out of the question for a woman to travel without male protection. So many aspects of life were difficult even for the privileged. Austen does give you an authentic experience of the past with very real characters, and great personal insights into personalities, but it's a very narrow window, and this book opens out the view to include much more of the landscape and population.

Lovely book that goes into great detail on the time period. Lots of interesting research to read.

This book paints an amazing portrait of the every day lives of every day people as well as of the those of the wealthy and powerful during the "Jane Austen" years. It's proving to be a valuable tool for a writer such as myself whose stories are set during this time period. I highly recommend it.

Lots of detail about everyday life, politics and economics. A very fun read - the reader can hop around and read the chapters in order of personal interest.This brought a great deal to my understanding of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, which I am enjoying just now!

This book gives an excellent and often fascinating look into the daily lives of people in England some 200 or so years ago.

An in-depth look at the nice and not-so-nice social and material culture of Regency England. Worthwhile. From 'necessarys' to childbirth. Well done.