What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist-The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England

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.

Author: Daniel Pool
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Published: 04/21/1994
Pages: 416
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 8.48h x 5.50w x 0.74d
ISBN13: 9780671882365
ISBN10: 0671882368
BISAC Categories:
- History | Europe | Great Britain | General
- Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
- Education | Reference

About the Author
Daniel Pool received a doctorate in political science from Brandeis University and a law degree from Columbia University. He lives in New York City.