TIME TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO REGENCY BRITAIN

Pugilists, smugglers, highwaymen, rakes and hellhounds are stereotypes associated with Regency England. To balance that, there are the elegant Nash terraces of west London, or the brilliance of Faraday's invention of the electric motor. In this fascinating book the author takes the lid off the mythology in a whistle stop tour of the nation, allowing us to come near to experiencing life in the early 19th century. The Regency was the last age before the beginning of standardisation, demonstrated by idiosyncratic entries in parish burial registers in which the clerk might speculate about the cause of death in spidery handwriting. By the end of the period the industrial revolution was drawing people to the towns in large numbers, and artists were already celebrating a lost world of nature, for instance in Constable's immensely popular Hay Wain of 1821. Following the census of 1801, 22 towns doubled in size over the next 30 years. Cities like Liverpool became a byword for poverty and squalor at the same time as their grand civic buildings were being endowed by rich merchants. During the same period the river Thames changed beyond recognition, crowded with vessels carrying coals from Newcastle and oriental goods from the far east, while new bridges with iron girders facilitated overland transport. Meanwhile George IV was a profligate rake who cared little for social conditions, and a quarter of his population was dependent on the poor relief system. Women were thrown out of employment if they became pregnant, with resulting destitution, though high-class courtesans such as the notorious Kitty Fisher made enough money to live in style. Changes in the employment market brought out political radicalism, which together with the anti-slavery movement was gaining ground at the end of the period. 416pp, colour reproductions.