A âdelightful readerâs companionâ (The New York Times) to the great nineteenth-century British novels of Austen, Dickens, Trollope, the BrontĂ«s, 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 âTally Ho!â at a fox hunt, or how one landed in âdebtorâs prison,â this book serves as an indispensable historical and literary resource. Author Daniel Pool provides countless intriguing details (did you know that the âplumsâ 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 lifeâboth âupstairsâ and âdownstairs.
An illuminating glossary gives at a glance the meaning and significance of terms ranging from âagueâ to âwainscoting,â the specifics of the currency system, and a lively host of other details and curiosities of the day.