BOOK REVIEW: The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern by Robert Morrison

I read a fair amount—all right, a lot—of Regency Romance. It’s pure escapism. But it doesn’t give me the same sense of immersion in place and time that general historical fiction does. Despite all the genre Romance I’ve read, I don’t have much actual knowledge of the Regency time period. So, I’ve embarked on a reading spree of British history. The books include The Age of Decadence by Simon Heffer and Victorious Century by David Cannadine. They were both informative in their own way, but lengthy and serious. I wanted something focusing more specifically on the Regency period that would give me more of the flavor of the times, more of the social history.

The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writes, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern by Robert Morrison was just the book I was looking for. Drawing heavily on the personalities of the time period, inserting anecdotes throughout, the book does a wonderful job of giving a broad view of the historical events and a close-up view of some of its notable personalities. Fact-filled yet very readable, I got this book from the library, but plan to buy a copy to keep on my shelf.