Probably more helpful as a reference than as a "read it cover-to-cover" work, but there's a lot of information here for anybody who has read a lot of Trollope, Dickens, Austen, and Eliot. Many nuances that would have been easily recognizable to the Victorian reader likely went over our modern heads.

Great book for the fan of 19th century fiction. It explains what all those terms and phrases, like "assizes" and "Michelmas term lately over" mean, and gives the reader an overview of the basic elements of life in England in the 19th century. Very helpful

It's not exactly everything one needs to know about nineteenth-century England, but it does a fine job at hitting upon most of the little knowledge gaps that can crop up for modern readers of Dickens, Hardy, Trollope, Austen, and their contemporaries. Particularly devoted readers of such Brit Lit may be surprised at how many times they are struck with a sense of dawning clarity and realization as they peruse this book---whether by the discovery of the name and rules of the card game Rawdon Crawley is so blasted good at, the finer points of entail, or the difference between a "heath" and a "moor." Don't expect any witty asides from Pool; he's far more content to attend to the business of covering as many details as concisely as possible. In the end, this isn't such a bad thing as the book does do its job as a handy reader's companion.

One Word: Boring.

I also found two distinct errors in the book (both references to Pride and Prejudice) which made me wonder what else was incorrect.

If you're looking for a book to take you into the historical worlds of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen- look elsewhere.