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History. Nonfiction. Vivid, witty, and entertaining...easily the best general account of eighteenth-century society that we have. Roy Porter's engrossing, encyclopedic history of English life in the 1700s receives its due in this fine production, which will appeal to many more than the bibliophile and the audiophile. While he touches on politics and personages, Porter's approach is expansive and demographic, a survey of every factor that shaped social life, and produced changes over the show more century. Only a narrator as accomplished as Simon Vance and as immaculate in articulation could convey the sharpness and precision Porter achieves through a steady accumulation of detail. What for a lesser reader might be only a plodding list of population figures, or descriptions of land holdings, becomes instead a window into a past time, each sentence to the point, illuminating, engaging the intellectual and the sensual imagination. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFIle Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine. HTML:In this boldly drawn portrait of eighteenth-century England, Roy Porter defines a nation from its princes to its paupers, from its metropolis to its smallest hamlet. The topics covered run the gamut, covering diet, housing, prisons, rural festivals, bordellos, plays, paintings, and work and wages. This text's broad scope makes it a must-have for any lover of English history, or history in general. Written in a reader-friendly manner, it is the perfect companion book to any eighteenth-century novel, providing readers with a deeper understanding of the times.Roy Porter's new edition of his celebrated book of English cultural history was revised in light of changes in the climate of debate that occurred in the seven years after its first publication.
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Member Reviews
Took a while, but this was an excellent, readable book about life and society in eighteenth-century Britain (an era that gets mysteriously overlooked, despite people's interested in France at the same period and the slew of Victorian novels set in that time). I learned a lot, and understanding the eighteenth century is so important to putting the Regency and Victorian periods in perspective.
I enjoyed this very much. A huge amount of information is engagingly conveyed, fascinating.
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Author Information
78+ Works 6,046 Members
Roy Sydney Porter was born December 31, 1946. He grew up in a south London working class home. He attended Wilson's Grammar School, Camberwell, and won an unheard of scholarship to Cambridge. His starred double first in history at Cambridge University (1968) led to a junior research fellowship at his college, Christ's, followed by a teaching post show more at Churchill College, Cambridge. His Ph.D. thesis, published as The Making Of Geology (1977), became the first of more than 100 books that he wrote or edited. Porter was a Fellow and Director of Studies in History at Churchill College, Cambridge from 1972 to 1979; Dean from 1977 to 1979; Assistant Lecturer in European History at Cambridge University from 1974 to 1977, Lecturer from 1977 to 1979. He joined the Wellcome Institute fot the History of Medicine in 1979 where he was a Senior Lecturer from 1979 to 1991, a Reader from 1991 to 1993, and finally a Professor in the Social History of Medicine from 1993 to 2001. Porter was Elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1994, and he was also made an honorary fellow by both the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Roy Porter died March 4, 2002, at the age of 55. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- English Society in the Eighteenth Century
- Original title
- The Pelican Social History of Britain: English Society in the Eighteenth Century
- Original publication date
- 1982
- Important places
- England, UK
- Important events
- 18th century
- Dedication
- To Jack Plumb
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 942.07 — History & geography History of Europe England and Wales England Hanover 1714-1837
- LCC
- HN398 .E5 .P67 — Social sciences Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Social history and conditions. Social problems. By region or country
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 632
- Popularity
- 45,800
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.79)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 4
