A lovely book, arranged thematically, that seeks to educate people about daily life in England in the 19th century, largely drawing from what would be found in the literature of that period. A good portion of the book is a glossary that would be quite handy. I enjoyed reading this, but it did have quite a few instances of repetition, which I attribute to that fact that it might be assumed people would use it more as a reference book instead of reading it cover to cover. I also would have liked some sort of footnoting system, as it kept bothering me that he rarely referenced sources, and I wish he did not give quite so much away in terms of the plots of the novels he mentioned. That said, it was a nice, useful overview that I could see being very helpful for people, and did have some excellent information.

Anyone who has lived or spent a number of years in England and is reasonably well-read will find few surprises in this book, but the detail and the entertaining writing and illustrations make it worth reading. I recommend this book to all those who enjoy Austen, Brontë, Dickens, Gaskell, Thackeray and Victorian England in general.

Surprises for me were discovering that half of America (along with China) apparently forbids first cousin marriage and that marriage banns are unknown in the USA.

[I hate touchpads. Somehow my very long review of this book disappeared before I could save it. I won't rewrite it.]

There are a number of small errors - in my first and now lost review, I listed them, but I've removed my bookmarks and they would probably only interest a very few people anyway. The lengthy glossary at the end of the book may well prove the most usefull part for readers.

For a victorianist and lover of Victorian novels this is a gem. Almost everything is quick and fascinating to read, admittedly the author sometimes lost me with his long discussions on the difference bewteen surgeons and physicians, barristers and lawyers. I liked that he choose examples from well-known novels (nevertheless his disregard for Elizabeth Gaskell is quite beyond me) and quoted them to show the reality that laid beyond the words.
The writing is engaging minus the sometimes confused and long-winded passages, and I loved that etchings ponctuated the different notions.
The second half of the book is a glossary and I haven't read it as such, but I'll certainly keep it on hand for reference in the future.

What exactly was the "London season," and what part of the year was it? Who ranks higher, a duke or an earl, and how do you address them? How do you play whist? What does it mean to be "cashiered?"

The first half of the book is taken up with short chapters on different aspects of life in Britain at the time, with examples from Austen, Dickens, Trollope, Elliot, and the Brontes, clarifying all the details that would have been common knowledge to a 19th-century audience, but which mystify modern readers. The second half is a glossary offering short explanations of everything from ague to yeomanry. While this book is meant for 19th-century literature fans who want to better understand their favorite books, I also find it invaluable for helping me get details right in my own writing.

I've been reading this with my recent attempts at catching up on Victorian classics, and it has been a marvelous companion piece so far. Most of the webpages out there which provide notes for Victorian classics tend to focus more on themes or symbolism, which might be useful for people who are being tested in a class on the material, but doesn't help at all when the sort of questions I'm having about the material as a casual reader are more along the lines of "What sort of courtship/marriage system did they have in Victorian England? How did the court system Dickens keeps referencing really work?"

This provides a very organized and useful overview of Victorian society, subject by subject, which is a big help in grasping why the characters in the books I've been reading react they way they do to their surroundings, and in answering my questions about government, available technologies in the time period, and social expectations.

It's definitely not comprehensive enough to explain every individual situation in each novel I'm reading (for that I would need an extensively annotated version of the novel itself), and I suspect someone who wanted to write accurate historical fiction would mostly find this a good starting point in their research, because all that I've learned here only makes me wish to find out more from other sources.

However, for a reader who plans to read a number of Victorian novels in the near future, reading this a bit at time alongside the novels themselves is really helpful. I was unable to sit down and read it at one go, because there is too much dry information to absorb at once, but reading a bit at a time while reading the books themselves, I was eventually able to get through the main text section, and I will probably go back and look through the ample glossary of terms at the end as necessary to remind myself of information.

2016 - Re-reading for a Pride & Prejudice RAL

2015 -
Having waited for a price drop to below $10 on the Kindle edition, I have to say I am disappointed. Perhaps having read a few other, somewhat similar books, like Georgette Heyer's Regency World, I expected more than this book really offered.

First off, this is much more focused on the latter half of the 1800s than the Jane Austen/Regency era. Most of the references to literary cites and characters are to books by Dickens, Trollope and that era's authors. If that is your era of interest, then you may be more pleased with this book; I was hoping for more in the early 1800s era, around the Napoleonic Wars.

The first part of this book is a series of short essays on various topics, like fox hunting, carriages/transportation, dress for men and women, and the like. As far as this book goes, it's... OK, and the coverage of the topics ranges from good to sometimes disappointing. Sometimes within the same topic a nicely specific and precise explanation will dwindle into generalities. I found this very disappointing and occasionally, having 'turned the page', annoying to find that specific numbers had become 'many' or 'often'. In some cases, I felt that this was written at the level of a college research paper, no more. While there is a bibliography, there are no footnotes or reference links.

The second part of the book is a glossary, with very short (25 words or less) descriptions. There are no cross-references nor ways to jump in the ebook to the next alphabetical section, and I believe this might be much more useful a tool in print.

This really merits more stars, but it took me forever to finish, so I'm giving it three. It had some fascinating tidbits in there, but it was a bit like reading an encyclopedia -- fairly dry. A great reference book, however, to inform the reading of Dickens and others from his time period.

This book is a broad survey of how life was led in England over the course of the nineteenth century. It addresses both material and social arrangements, with a few dips into economics and history.

As you might imagine from such a broad mandate, it treats its many subjects shallowly; nevertheless it offers a wealth of detail that illuminates many confusing or half-understood elements of British fiction.

This book is better dipped into as a reference source than read through from cover to cover. When the chapters are read in order, one finds certain bits of information recurring here and there, and described in exactly the same terms more than once. It has an enormous glossary that will probably be the most useful part of the book for readers. Writers of historical fiction set in nineteenth-century England should take the time to read it all, slowly and carefully; they will learn much that will rescue their stories from error.

So...apparently I've been reading this book since November of last year. Yeah. But I would read a bit of it, then set it aside for a couple of weeks (or months), then pick it up again. Though the information in this book is interesting, it's not presented in a very engaging way, which is probably why it took me so long to read it.

I did learn some things and have some of my questions answered. Parts of it were so dull and boring that I skimmed, but others were good: the Private World and the Grim World were the most interesting sections to me. I skimmed through the glossary section...it's not the sort of thing you read straight through, but I'm sure I'll refer back to it while reading classics.

Also, be warned that the author quite often spoils plot points of classics in this book!

A brilliant little resource and one I look forward to making good use of in the near future. Fun and informative with a priceless glossary. If you're looking for a rounded glimpse of the 19th century, consider your search to be at an end.

Not a fascinating read, necessarily, but packed with information that can only help anyone who wants to make more sense out of, say, Austen's novels. Want to know why it was a big deal that Jane and Bingley danced two dances? This will tell you.

If you want very detailed information on a specific aspect of Victorian life then this book is not for you. If, however, you want an interesting, often quirky look at a host of Victorian conventions, eccentricities and a wonderfully succinct Glossary of Terms then this is a wonderful book for your shelf.

I have enjoyed reading Victorian novels for decades, but this book could still fill in some gaps of information and re-paint some faded corners of my memory. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this book is the fact that Daniel Pool offers so many examples from the Victorian Era to illustrate his points. Those moments I truly enjoyed, the "ah moments" of understanding or renewed clarity.

One of the best aspects of being in a reading group with Goodreads is the fact that you not only have the opportunity to discuss books with people from around the world, but you also get to share other books that will enhance your reading pleasure. This is one such book.