A review by libraryofcalliope
The Regency Revolution: Jane Austen, Napoleon, Lord Byron and the Making of the Modern World by Robert Morrison

4.0

The Regency period refers to the rule of George IV as Prince Regent before he was officially crowned king upon the death of his father. It spanned approximately 9 years from 1811 to 1820, a fairly influential and important decade featuring a variety of events from the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Frankenstein and Byron’s Don Juan to the Peterloo massacre, the Luddite Riots, Robert Owen’s New Lanark experiments with socialism and the end of the Napoleonic wars. British society was changing as it headed for the new Victorian age with huge strides being made in medicine, technology and industry but also contained huge levels of inequality and colonial expansionism. Morrison provides a whistle stop tour of the main ideas and events of the time which works as an excellent introduction to the period. It’s very readable especially considering how much content is packed in here. I really enjoyed this book and it’s discussions of the shifting society and priorities is done mostly sensitively and Morrison takes great care to trace the events’ impacts on society today. Definitely a good starting point for someone interested in this period.