Dozens of short essays provides a panoramic view of British life during the nineteenth century, including information on social niceties, definitions of British phrases, and details about sex, government, law, money, and social institutions.

A “delightful reader’s companion” (The New York Times) to the great nineteenth-century British novels of Austen, Dickens, Trollope, the Brontës, and more, this lively guide clarifies the sometimes bizarre maze of rules and customs that governed life in Victorian England. For anyone who has ever wondered whether a duke outranked an earl, when to yell “Tally Ho!” at a fox hunt, or how one landed in “debtor’s prison,” this book serves as an indispensable historical and literary resource. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the “plums” in Christmas plum pudding were actually raisins?) on the Church of England, sex, Parliament, dinner parties, country house visiting, and a host of other aspects of nineteenth-century English life—both “upstairs” and “downstairs. An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from “ague” to “wainscoting,” the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.

A study of Jane Austen's life and writings, this work surveys two centuries of editing, censorship, and fiction that created a pious, wistful, romantically pining, and frustrated Austen. It serves up an antidote to that icon - a dynamic, brave, and buoyant writer - by examining subtle self-portraits in the author's works.

A fantastically vast and witty companion to everything you need to know about Jane Austen, presented in a wonderfully fun and entertaining style which will appeal to all readers.

In Matters of Fact in Jane Austen: History, Location, and Celebrity, Janine Barchas makes the bold assertion that Jane Austen’s novels allude to actual high-profile politicians and contemporary celebrities as well as to famous historical figures and landed estates. Barchas is the first scholar to conduct extensive research into the names and locations in Austen’s fiction by taking full advantage of the explosion of archival materials now available online. According to Barchas, Austen plays confidently with the tension between truth and invention that characterizes the realist novel. Of course, the argument that Austen deployed famous names presupposes an active celebrity culture during the Regency, a phenomenon recently accepted by scholars. The names Austen plucks from history for her protagonists (Dashwood, Wentworth, Woodhouse, Tilney, Fitzwilliam, and many more) were immensely famous in her day. She seems to bank upon this familiarity for interpretive effect, often upending associations with comic intent. Barchas re-situates Austen’s work closer to the historical novels of her contemporary Sir Walter Scott and away from the domestic and biographical perspectives that until recently have dominated Austen studies. This forward-thinking and revealing investigation offers scholars and ardent fans of Jane Austen a wealth of historical facts, while shedding an interpretive light on a new aspect of the beloved writer's work. -- Joseph Roach, Sterling Professor of Theater and English, Yale University, and author of It

This book takes up two topics. The first is the British novelist Anthony Trollope (1815-1882), author of 47 novels and five volumes of short stories. The second is the Internet, specifically the creation of virtual communities through email and discussion lists, focusing, naturally enough, on discussion of the works of Trollope. The first chapter tells how the group began and focuses on the conversation that ensued on Trollopes first novel: The Macdermots of Ballycloran. The second chapter widens the discussion to take in all of Trollope's Irish novels. The third records the conversation of the group on Trollope's novel of jealousy: He Knew He Was Right. The fourth chapter discusses Trollope's shorter novels. The fifth returns to the group conversations; this time the discussion of The Claverings. The sixth chapter discusses the illustrations of Trollope's novels. The seventh chapter records the group conversation on Trollope's most class-ridden novel, Lady Anna. The eighth chapter discusses trollope's life, through his An Autobiography. The last chapter sets the group conversation on Can You Forgive Her? into the context of the Palliser (or Parliamentary) novel sequence. The Preface is by John Letts, Chairman of the (British) Trollope Society. The book contains twenty-four illustrations from the original editions of Trollope's novels.