This book has some amazing information that enriches and clarifies the classic works of the time period, I learned a lot from this.

This was so helpful in teaching  Jane Austen and  Charles Dickens to my 11th-graders. The sections on marriage and sex really helped my kids to understand the differences in the societal influence in the novels.

Sooo....wanna know who's who in the hierarchy of the Anglican church (you need this if you read Trollope, my little sweetie)? Would ya like to learn all those card games they played way back when people actually faced one another IN PERSON when playing a game? Care about old food, fashion, and social customs? Then this is the book for you. A great browser for when nothing suits and all is vile in litrachuah. I just loved this and wish I still had my copy.

"The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there".- quote from novel, the Go-Betweens. The past is "foreign" enough to modern Brits, but even more so to those of us across the pond.

For anyone who has read Victorian-era British novels or watched film adaptations and been confused by some of the customs and cultural references made by the characters- this book is a godsend. The authors of these novels wrote assuming their audience would know things like social hierachy, ettiquette, transportation and other aspects of everyday life. Daniel Pool covers it quite comprehensively.

I also think this book would be useful for teachers and students of high school or college English.


















I picked this up at the George Bernard Shaw festival in Kitchener, Ontario

This was more of a reference guide than a book with a story. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading Victorian literature. It explains a lot of the time period including jobs, social customs, what daily life was like, and even how to properly mourn. The author also makes note of sections of popular stories from this time period where you can see the topics explained in action. It was a fascinating read and will definitely help me to understand and appreciate Victorian era stories more.

What a wonderful read! Even though this was the third book on Victorian England that I read this month, this one did have a lot of information the other two didn't, especially to do with specific 19th century vocabulary. It's very obviously intended for an American audience but I learnt a lot. One of the best books on the topic, to be sure, and the writing flows really easily since there's just the right amount of quotes and commentary.

What I learned:

1. Men could auction off their wives. Also, the wives were made to wear harnesses when this happened.
2. "Picking oakum" is pulling apart ropes, originally used as ships' caulking, but then just as punishment.
3. Women being presented to the queen had to wear feathers and have bare neck and shoulders.
4. Tea leaves were recycled in some disgusting ways. So were horses.
5. Men wore leather pants.
6. Children were sometimes lured into dark alleys so that their clothes could be stolen.

The beginning of this book is the dullest, as it deals with topics like money and measurement. However, the sections on private life, especially are very interesting. Written primarily as a reference book, the text is best if you have a specific question while reading a book written in the 19th century: "what is a heath?" "why did so-and-so have to go to Scotland to get married?" and less for reading straight through (as I did). There is an extensive glossary at the end. However, even if it is just read through, it provides excellent and concise information on a wide variety of topics. Much of the information is relevant to the United States of the time as well.

It will be my guide through British classic literature from XIX century. I am tempted to read all these novels again because now I will understand more. I am sure that I will go back to this book now and again, especially to Glossary which I have read only briefly.

It is a precious book for every fan and reader of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, Brontë sisters. Particularly, if you don't know a historical background (everyday life in those times).

But even if you don't know those classic books you will find interesting the world of nineteenth-century England. Maybe sometimes you will skip some paragraph quoting or mentioning the books you haven't read but this book is worth reading. [I can't decide whether it is better to read it before or after reading those classic novels. Each solution has advantages and disadvantages.]

I really think there is all every reader should know.

Examples which were very interesting for me (and which I can recall at this moment):

1) Pudding - I was shocked what this word meant then.
2) All those cards games - I haven't even understood their rules.
3) How expensive and problematic the country visits were - for hosts and guests.
4) The whole justice system or its lack.
5) How the English kept clean or why they didn't do it.
6) Victorian recycling - the people were really poor then...
7) What they ate - rich and poor.

And this world was not so long ago and in the most civilized country then.

For more information just read the book ;-) but if you are not convinced yet, read reviews of Linda and Kathy Davie.

Having read “The Time Traveler’s Guide to Regency Britain” before this, I found much of the information to be a confirmation of what I had read previously. What is different about this book is that it refers to specific literary pieces of the time, and the second half of the book has a very informative glossary that should be at hand when reading literature of the 19th century.

Maybe 2.5. This book has a lot of useful and interesting information in, but it's presented in a very dry way. It reads more like a textbook than anything else. I also take slight issue with the amount of novels it spoils, and the fact it fails to distinguish between words, concepts and traditions that were 19th century or are simply British. Overall, a mixed bag.

Covering the span of 19th century England, the author shared bits and pieces of what life would have been like if you lived back then. All I knew is that as a woman, I very much appreciate living now. Pretty much, if you were not a member of the peerage and/or royalty, you had a difficult life. And even then, nobility had a very controlled life; many things were expected of them. No wonder it was so easy to fall out with the ton!

Water, roads, sewerage and the air were, for the most part, deplorable if you lived in London. It was important to remember that technology was very different: coal was the driving force for most of the era with all its dirtiness. The plus side was most clothes were organic and they were easy to repair and hand down. There was no chemically processed synthetic fibers, PVC or Styrofoam to fill up landfills.

I shuttered to think of what was dumped directly into the Thames. "Streets were scavenged for cigar butts, and some of the poor collected dog mass or 'pure' as it was called- and then sold it to tanyards who used it in processing the morocco and leather for the kid gloves worn by the upper crust at fancy operas and balls". Cholera reared its head periodically because of the unsanitary conditions. I mention this but I know that New York, Paris and other large cities had just as many problems during the nineteenth century.

The author covered the law, postal system, orphans and the difference in treatment of women over time. I learned that if you were a female, it was rougher on you in Victorian times than the earlier part of the century.

Country life, a gentleman's home and what was to be expected, women's clothing and the private world made for some very interesting reading. The author referred to all classes of people.

This book was a glimpse of England during a rapid time of change. Sometimes sad and even very depressing, it was still interesting. As a big fan of historical romances from this era, I will probably be more critical as to the accuracy of what authors write. On a positive note, I appreciate all the time and research that goes into creating fiction.

A quick read and a good overview of a lot of things, with a bibliography for more details and a glossary that I look forward to flipping through as needed.

(Jane Austen probably ate mutton. And Charles Dickens knew his orphans.)