I love to read about the Regency, but most histories, while excellent for giving a sense of the time, are not specific enough and organized in such a way as to clarify the details of day-to-day life, even for the upper classes. This books is superb. It is very entertaining to read straight through, and answers those detailed questions that allow one to concretely visualize the setting.

i imagine that this would be particularly invaluable for writers. I'm not one myself, but it must be frustrating to try and find the precise descriptions to create a truly vivid world. This books is quite specific. One may know that Classical, Chinese and Egyptian furniture were popular during the Regency, but this stipulates when each one was most fashionable. Most writers manuals that I have seen try to treat the Regency with the Victorian, and the information simply isn't in depth enough for a century that saw such enormous change. Each chapter includes a glossary of related terms, and there is another at the end of the book. Also included are a timeline, small biographies of important people of the era, details of famous places and buildings, and an extensive bibliography. The book is indexed, although not as thoroughly as I would like.

A wonderful addition to any Regency collection - I hope that it is reprinted sometime soon for those not fortunate enough to have their own copy. The other book that I would recommend as a Regency reference work is Jennifer Kloesters' Georgette Heyer's Regency World. That is much more a guide to the era than to the author's works, and gives many of the nuts-and-bolts of daily living (chiefly for the upper classes) than can be so difficult to find. The two books have slightly different emphases, and I would recommend using both, if possible. ( )