Description
Book SynopsisEssays provide a view of British life during the nineteenth century.
Trade ReviewM.G. Lord
New York Newsday A delightful book...indispensable to lovers of Victorian literature.
Geoffrey Stokes
The Boston Globe Indispensable...Pool has gathered together...the facts of daily life in 19th-century England, and no one who likes an occasional dip into the period's history or literature can afford to be without it.
Glenn Giffin
The Denver Post It's great fun reading this, and Pool has provided a valuable service.
Patrick T. Reardon
Chicago Tribune This entertaining social history is just the ticket for Americans who like to read Dickens and other 19th-century novelists...or for anyone who likes to read histories and biographies of that era.
Table of ContentsContentsIntroduction
Part One
The BasicsCurrency
The Calendar
Hogsheads and Drams: English Measurement
England
London
The Public WorldPrecedence: Of Bishops, Barristers, and Baronets
The Titled
How to Address Your Betters
Esq., Gent., K.C.B., etc.
Status: Gentlemen and Lesser Folk
Society
Society and "The Season"
Basic Etiquette
How to Address the Nontitled
"May I Have This Dance?"
The Rules of Whist and Other Card Games
Calling Cards and Calls
The Major Rituals
Presentation at Court
The Dinner Party
The Ball
The Country House Visit
Money
Being Wealthy
Entail and Protecting the Estate
Bankruptcy, Debt, and Moneylending
Power and the Establishment
The Government
Britannia Rules the Waves
The Army
The Church of England
Oxford and Cambridge
Schools
"The Law Is a Ass"
Lawyers
Crime and Punishment
TransitionThe Horse
Please, James, the Coach
The Railroad
The Mail
The CountryLife on the Farm
The Midlands, Wessex, and Yorkshire
Who's Who in the Country
Shire and Shire Alike: Local Government in Britain
"The Theory and System of Fox Hunting"
Vermin, Poachers, and Keepers
Fairs and Markets
The Private World
"Reader, I Married Him"
Sex
An Englishman's Home
Houses with Names
Furniture
Lighting
How the English Kept Clean
"Please, Sir, I Want Some More."
Pudding!
Tea
Drink and the Evils Thereof
Women's Clothing
Men's Clothing
Servants
The Governess
A Taxonomy of Maids
Victorian Recycling
The Grim WorldThe Orphan
Occupations
Apprentices
The Workhouse
Disease
Doctors
Death and Other Grave Matters
Part Two
GlossaryBibliography
Index
