Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: If you need a great book about the 19th century, look no further. I found it to be an excellent reference book. Very handy and informative. Worth all the money.
Rating:
Summary: Fun and informative
Review: If you've read everything by Austen, lots of Trollope and Dickens, you'll enjoy this survey of 19th century English society. I found much in this book that filled in the missing pieces of my understanding of the unwritten rules of this era. The book is divided into two parts: the first has more lengthy explanations of various aspects of Victorian society--marriage, the military, class, money, law, parliament, etc. Diagrams of class rank and period illustrations are helpful. Quotes from some of the most famous novels of the time are used to illustrate the explanations. There are brief histories of the monarchs interspersed throughout, as well as some medieval history that explains how many of the customs came to be. The second half is a dictionary of commom terms you'll come across in novels from the period. While the editing of this book leaves a little to be desired, it is an enjoyable read and a decent reference. Serious anglophiles will find it very basic, but the avid novel reader who's history is only "so-so" will find it invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Great for English Novel Fans 1800-1900
Review: If you've read everything by Austen, lots of Trollope and Dickens, you'll enjoy this survey of 19th century English society. I found much in this book that filled in the missing pieces of my understanding of the unwritten rules of this era. The book is divided into two parts: the first has more lengthy explanations of various aspects of Victorian society--marriage, the military, class, money, law, parliament, etc. Diagrams of class rank and period illustrations are helpful. Quotes from some of the most famous novels of the time are used to illustrate the explanations. There are brief histories of the monarchs interspersed throughout, as well as some medieval history that explains how many of the customs came to be. The second half is a dictionary of commom terms you'll come across in novels from the period. While the editing of this book leaves a little to be desired, it is an enjoyable read and a decent reference. Serious anglophiles will find it very basic, but the avid novel reader who's history is only "so-so" will find it invaluable.
Rating:
Summary: Erratum, for review of August 13th 2000
Review: In my review of August 13th 2000, I referred to Sir William Lucas as a BARONET. I meant to wrtie that Sir Walter Elliot was a BARONET. I apologize to my fellow readers and especially my fellow Jane Austen acolytes.
Rating: 
Summary: This Book Packs Many Facts and Fun Info into One Volume
Review: Much of this book holds such entertaining facts about the
period(s) you keep reading just for the fun of it and forget your research. I did find a slant towards Victorian rather than Regency and a few dates were left out that made it hard to distinguish which era the info belonged to. I would recommend double checking any facts before setting them in stone in your own work. Overall, this book will be very helpful as it packs alot of useful info between it's covers.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: No, not at the book. This is a great book that I am sure will help most readers of Victorian literature. Before this book I used to skip certain details in the books of Austen, Brontes, or Dickens. Now I believe I have a fuller appreciation of the details in these books that enrich these novels. However, I must also say that I am disillusioned after reading this book about the period in which these novels were written. I used to imagine the times and places in Austen and Bronte novels as somewhat magical, believing that those were the times I would love to live in. Now I know many things I wish I didn't know or didn't think about, such as the lack of women's rights, or the difficulty of daily life. It took away some of the romance of those Victorian novels, and brought me back to earth. I don't know if this is a good thing!...
Rating: 
Summary: Use with caution
Review: Not bad, but use with caution. As so many other readers have pointed out, there are a number of careless errors in this book. The distinction between the Regency Period and the Victorian era does get muddled. Considering the broad timespan and variety of topics covered, it's still worth reading, but there are other volumes that you should consult to verify or disprove the many statements. (DICKENS OF LONDON and the DICKENS INDEX would be a good start if you can find them) The section on currency and it's meaning was interesting, but in no way should it be a guide in comparison to modern money. THAT would be a book in it'self. The dictionary in the back also comes in handy, especially when searching for occupations. Now, I will admit my knowledge of Jane Austen is somewhat limited, and I hesitate to recommend any sources.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible background information
Review: OK, so maybe you can live quite nicely without ever learning about the Order of Precedence, rules for being presented at Court or the difference between a Hogshead and a dram. If you're like me, however, you love the novels of Regency and Victorian England. I couldn't get enough of Jane Austin with her cool and witty observations on the marriage game, the passionate writings of Charlotte Bronte that seemed to reflect her own inner demons, the bucolic romances of George Eliot or Thomas Hardy's tragi-comic portrayals of men's and women's conflicts within an indifferent society. These novelists' contemporaries understood the nuances of the society in which they placed their characters, but the modern American reader will not. For this reason, "What Jane Austin Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" is an indispensible reference book. The cultural literacy it provides can only enhance your reading of England's 19th Century literary greats.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Indespensible!
Review: Thank goodness! Finally I am clear on just what this "whist" game is that everybody in every nineteenth century British novel is always playing! I also understand the gout that troubled all the fashionable baronets, why Lydia Bennet and George Wickham were at first believed to have gone to Gretna Green, why the eldest daughter is never introduced by her first name, and the Chancery Court that plagued "Bleak House." I have learned the rules of good behavior for ladies, how to pay calls, address my betters, be presented at court, and dozens of other rules, facts and tidbits that have added a new level of depth and enjoyment to my favorite novels. This book is full of fascinating information and no fan of nineteenth century British literature should be without it. Since receiving it for Christmas, I have not read a single novel by Dickens, Austen or the Bronte sisters without having this handy guide within arm's reach. Much of the confusion is gone from "Bleak House," "Wuthering Heights," "Jane Eyre," and "Pride and Prejudice." I enjoy these wonderful novels that much more for this absorbing book, which is so interesting that sometimes, after referencing a particular something, I find it difficult to put down this guide and return to my Dickens. Definitely a must for those who, like me, enjoyed reading "Mansfield Park," and "Oliver Twist," but occasionally found themselves baffled by the complex rules of nineteenth century English society.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the American reader
Review: This book is a quick overview of daily life in Nineteenth Century England. In particular, it attempts, in as small a space as possible, to answer all the questions that a modern American reader would have when reading Nineteenth Century British literature. Using many references to popular novels, the author goes through such workaday issues as food and drink, titles and social position, government and the law, and a host of other things. This book is a real gem for American readers. It does not go into great depth on any subject, but it is encyclopedic in its reach. In particular, after chapters on many subjects, this book then goes into a 138 page (!) glossary that includes just about everything. I highly recommend this book.
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