The Regency Years : : During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern

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Call Number: 941.073 Mo, Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / Europe / Great Britain
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	941.073 Mo	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Nonfiction / History / Europe / Great Britain	4-week checkout	Due 05-19-2024

The Regent and the Regency -- Crime, punishment, and the pursuit of freedom -- Theaters of entertainment -- Sexual pastimes, pleasures, and perversities -- Expanding empire and waging war -- Changing landscapes and ominous signs -- Epilogue -- The modern world.
"A surprising history of the era that brought our modern world decisively into view. Though the Victorians are often credited with ushering in our modern era, the seeds were planted in the years before. The Regency (1811- 1820) began when the profligate Prince of Wales replaced his insane father, George III, as Britain's ruler; around the regent surged a society of evangelicalism and hedonism, elegance and brutality, exuberance and despair. The arts showcased extraordinary writers and painters such as Austen, Byron, the Shelleys, Constable, and Turner. Science gave us the steam locomotive and the blueprint for the modern computer. Yet the dark side of the modern era was visible in the poverty, slavery, pornography, opium, and gothic imaginings that birthed Frankenstein. And all the while, the British Empire fought in foreign lands: the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the War of 1812 in the United States. Exploring these crosscurrents, Robert Morrison illuminates the profound ways this period shaped and indelibly marked the modern world."--Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Meticulous research submitted by kkjammers on August 26, 2020, 6:20pm Robert Morrison combines exhaustive research and lively writing to draw the reader into Regency England. Morrison tells engaging and sometimes astonishing stories of the whole of English society, first giving background as to what, when and why the Regency period is so named. In the chapter entitled "Crime, Punishment, and the Pursuit of Freedom" I learned that, according to the "Bloody Code," a child as young as seven could be hanged "for poaching a rabbit, or stealing a piece of lace, or cutting down a growing tree." More than 200 crimes carried the death penalty. Numerous uprisings were characteristic of the time. Other chapters described various types of entertainment, including the theatre, encompassing holiday shows, drama, comedy, and tragedy; horse racing, field sports, (hunting), cockfighting, badger-baiting, boxing, gambling, dancing, shopping, fairs, drinking and dinner parties, art, and literature. Major figures in the Regency were colorfully portrayed. Other chapters covered "Sexual Pastimes, Pleasures, and Perversities." Notable is the zero-tolerance legal standard regarding LGBTQ folk. Convicted gay males ("sodomites") were sentenced to be pilloried and death by public hanging. A number of gay males fled to the Continent, where they were much less likely to live in terror for their lives. Morrison details the politics, expanding empire, and England's role in two major wars in chapter four, and concludes his magnum opus with the final chapter entitled "Changing Landscapes and Ominous Signs." All Morrison's assertions are sourced in extensive notes at the end of the book. I looked forward to immersing myself in studying this era as presented by Morrison, and plan to read another book he wrote, " The English Opium-Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey."