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ahomelibrary's review against another edition
If you’re a Jane Austen fan or just into history in general, I think you’d really like “The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern” by Dr. Robert Morrison, a notable scholar of the Regency years. You may also recognize his work from the annotated version of Persuasion by JA (2011) or a biography of Thomas De Quincey.
The book I’m suggesting is one of my favorite Regency overviews by far. For some reason, I always thought that newer books coming out tend to favor the Victorian and post-war histories of Britain, but there’s no objective truth to that. When this book came out in 2019, I was super excited to read it. Here’s some more about what you could expect from it:
“The Victorians are often credited with ushering in our current era, yet the seeds of change were planted during the earlier Regency period (1811–1820) when the profligate Prince of Wales—the future king George IV—succeeded his father. Around the Prince Regent surged a society of contrasts: evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. Capturing the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of artists—the Shelleys, Austen, Keats, Byron, Turner—scientists and inventors—Stevenson, Davy, Faraday—and a cast of dissident journalists, military leaders, and fashionistas, Robert Morrison captivatingly illuminates the ways this period shaped the modern world.”
This book is presented as one meant for any reader which any variant of interest in the subjects. Throughout, the author links history to popular literature of the time.
In my view, the contents can best be described in themes. Some of those (in my view) are:
— Crime: “underclass”, duels, violence, policing/prison, politics + revolutionaries
— Entertainment & Art: theatre, comedy/tragedy, shopping, fairs, food, galleries, novels
— Intimacy: gender roles + constraints, relationships, passion, Lord Byron, poetry, homosexuality
— Empire & War: Napoleon, Wellington, travel, India, opium, trade, slavery
— Change & Transformation: invention/science, industrial cities, infrastructure expansion.
Currently has 3.89 stars w/ 600 ratings on GR.
The book I’m suggesting is one of my favorite Regency overviews by far. For some reason, I always thought that newer books coming out tend to favor the Victorian and post-war histories of Britain, but there’s no objective truth to that. When this book came out in 2019, I was super excited to read it. Here’s some more about what you could expect from it:
“The Victorians are often credited with ushering in our current era, yet the seeds of change were planted during the earlier Regency period (1811–1820) when the profligate Prince of Wales—the future king George IV—succeeded his father. Around the Prince Regent surged a society of contrasts: evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. Capturing the Napoleonic Wars, the rise of artists—the Shelleys, Austen, Keats, Byron, Turner—scientists and inventors—Stevenson, Davy, Faraday—and a cast of dissident journalists, military leaders, and fashionistas, Robert Morrison captivatingly illuminates the ways this period shaped the modern world.”
This book is presented as one meant for any reader which any variant of interest in the subjects. Throughout, the author links history to popular literature of the time.
In my view, the contents can best be described in themes. Some of those (in my view) are:
— Crime: “underclass”, duels, violence, policing/prison, politics + revolutionaries
— Entertainment & Art: theatre, comedy/tragedy, shopping, fairs, food, galleries, novels
— Intimacy: gender roles + constraints, relationships, passion, Lord Byron, poetry, homosexuality
— Empire & War: Napoleon, Wellington, travel, India, opium, trade, slavery
— Change & Transformation: invention/science, industrial cities, infrastructure expansion.
Currently has 3.89 stars w/ 600 ratings on GR.
moiram's review against another edition
4.0
As a long-time reader of Georgette Heyer, I have always been interested in the Regency period, and have read a number of factual books on the Peninsular campaign, biographies of some of the principal personalities of the era, and first-person accounts, but this is the first book I have read that brings all of those aspects, plus information on scientific discoveries, medicine, artists and the criminal justice system all together in one volume. A truly fascinating book!
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fun zoomed-in look at a particular moment in British history. At times it read a little bit like a college essay where Morrison had to keep returning to his "Britain becomes modern" thesis.
bhurlbut's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty comprehensive though compact history of the major events and cultural touchstones of Regency England.
readswithtea29's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for anyone who’s devoured Regency literature. I have such a greater appreciation for Jane Austen and Mary Shelley, and I have some new-to-me authors and people in history that I plan to explore. So much happened during these almost 10 years that still influence life today. An engaging overview of the Regency Years.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
A rather short book to try and cover all the parts of the ten years of the official Regency during end of George III’s life. The author does provide a critical view of unjust policies regarding the poor, racism, slavery, and colonialism/globalism so it definitely isn’t a “Rah Rah Britain” book. It just didn’t seem to read very easily.
moonandsaturn's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Jane Austen wasn't enough I needed to understand the world she lived in
libraryofcalliope's review against another edition
4.0
The Regency period refers to the rule of George IV as Prince Regent before he was officially crowned king upon the death of his father. It spanned approximately 9 years from 1811 to 1820, a fairly influential and important decade featuring a variety of events from the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein and Byron’s Don Juan to the Peterloo massacre, the Luddite Riots, Robert Owen’s New Lanark experiments with socialism and the end of the Napoleonic wars. British society was changing as it headed for the new Victorian age with huge strides being made in medicine, technology and industry but also contained huge levels of inequality and colonial expansionism. Morrison provides a whistle stop tour of the main ideas and events of the time which works as an excellent introduction to the period. It’s very readable especially considering how much content is packed in here. I really enjoyed this book and it’s discussions of the shifting society and priorities is done mostly sensitively and Morrison takes great care to trace the events’ impacts on society today. Definitely a good starting point for someone interested in this period.