Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England: How our ancestors lived two centuries ago - Tapa dura

Scholarly but accessible . . . a must for anyone who wants a peek under Mr Darcy's wet shirt (Daily Mail)

A lively and impressionistic guide to the age, enjoyable for those entirely new to the subject, but also for the better informed, who will not only discover new facts in its wealth of material, but appreciate the immediacy and flavour of its eye-witness accounts (Rosemary Goring Sunday Herald)

In reconstructing the lives of ordinary people in Georgian England, Roy and Lesley Adkins vividly evoke the ways in which wealth and poverty coexisted ... This excellent book reminds us that Georgian England was as remote and alien to a modern sensibility as the Roman Empire (Nick Rennison Sunday Times)

a comprehensive survey of daily life in the time of Jane Austen, full of nuggets of surprising information ... a fine book for browsing (Peter Lewis Daily Mail)

Jane Austen's England provides a richly detailed portrait ... As this immensely useful and informative book makes clear, Regency England was no laughing matter (Jonathan Yardley Washington Post)

The authors provide a fascinating view of daily life in Britain during the late Georgian and Regency eras ... an excellent read, with each chapter offering a treasury of insights into the lives of Austen's contemporaries, both rich and poor (Carmela Ciuraru USA Today)

This encyclopedic and entertaining volume will suit readers who daydream about going back in time to walk alongside literary figures such as Austen ... While familiarity with her work will surely enhance reader delight, knowledge of the primary sources isn't necessary ... readers will appreciate its exciting sweep (Publishers Weekly)

For fans of Austen and English history, a deeply informative picture of Regency life (Kirkus Reviews)