This social history of the common British soldier in the American Revolution dispels myths and sheds new light on who fought for the Crown—and why. In this extensive study, Sylvia Frey surveys recruiting records, contemporary training manuals, statutes, and memoirs to provide insight into the soldier’s “life and mind.” In the process she reveals a great deal about the common soldier: his social origins and occupational background, his size, age, and general physical condition, his personal economics and daily existence. Her findings dispel the traditional assumption that the army was made up largely of criminals and social misfits. Special attention is given to soldiering as an occupation, and the moral and material factors which induced men to accept the high risks. Focusing on two of the major campaigns of the war—the Northern Campaign which culminated at Saratoga and the Southern Campaign which ended at Yorktown—Frey describes the human face of war, with particular emphasis on the physical and psychic strains of campaigning in the eighteenth century. Frey rejects the traditional assumption that soldiers were motivated to fight exclusively by fear and force and argues instead that the primary motivation to battle was generated by regimental esprit, which in the eighteenth century substituted for patriotism. After analyzing the sources of esprit, she concludes that it was the sustaining force for morale in a long and discouraging war.

Set in a coastal English town during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars in the 1790s, Sylvia’s Lovers follows the complicated love life of a young woman. Sylvia Robson lives a very happy life with her parents on a farm. Her cousin, a kind but dull Quaker man named Philip, loves her dearly, but Sylvia’s heart is captured by a handsome sailor named Charlie. As they grow closer, Charlie and Sylvia become secretly engaged. However, when Charlie is forced into enlisting in the Navy, he tells Philip, who witnesses the event, about their engagement and asks him to give Sylvia a message. Jealous and heartbroken, Philip decides not to tell Sylvia what happened. After a while, Sylvia assumes that Charlie’s abrupt disappearance must mean that he had died. Filled with sorrow, Philip helps Sylvia through her mourning. Thankful for his support, Sylvia decides to marry Philip and together they have a daughter. They live a happy life together until the inevitable happens—Charlie returns. After hearing Charlie’s story, Sylvia is enraged and rejects Philip, kicking him out of their house. He becomes desperate to redeem himself, though Sylvia is deeply hurt by the manipulation and betrayal, feeling unable to forgive him. However, as she reunites with Charlie, entertaining the idea of the two living their life together as planned, something feels off. Realizing that both she and Charlie have changed, Sylvia is conflicted as her choices each feel wrong in different ways. As the Napoleonic wars rage on, tensions grow as Sylvia tries to decide between her lovers. Featuring beautiful and dramatic prose, Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell is a powerful and moving piece of literature. Though it is lesser known than some of her other work, Gaskell’s mastery shines through with the novel’s incredible heart and interesting and authentic depictions of working-class characters. With themes of love and sacrifice, Sylvia’s Lovers continues to reach even modern-day audiences. This edition of Sylvia’s Lovers by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell is now presented in an easy-to-read font and features a striking new cover design. With these accommodations, modern audiences are provided a lavish and accessible reading experience.

Sylvia's Lovers is a Victorian romance novel described by the author as "the saddest story I ever wrote". The story begins in the 1790s in the fictional coastal town of Monkshaven against the background of the practice of impressments during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. Sylvia Robson lives happily with her parents on a farm, and is passionately loved by her rather dull Quaker cousin Philip. She, however, meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. When Kinraid goes back to his ship, he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin and they get a daughter. Inevitably, Kinraid returns to claim Sylvia and she discovers that Philip knew all the time that he was still alive. Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was an English novelist and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of Victorian society, including the very poor, and are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. Some of Gaskell's best known novels are Cranford, North and South, and Wives and Daughters.