I read this book straight-through, but it'd be better if you just use it for reference if you have a specific question about the period. I felt like I got way too much information the way I read it.
I know quite a bit about 19th century life, through many years of reading books written then. But this book was full of stuff I didn't know, especially all the intricacies of death rituals, wills, politics, medical care, social classes, and sexual mores. I will definitely read Austen, Dickens, Troll...
Over 400 pages of definitions, facts, and glosses for the most alien aspects of 1800s England. And there are a lot of them! The nineteenth century saw the birth of much of what we think of as unremarkable necessities of civilization: a police force, basic schooling for all children, a national mai...
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