Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Faber & Faber Non Fiction (2014), Edition: Signed ed, Kindle Edition, 752 pages
Description
"A people's history of life in Britain during the Napoleonic Wars"-- "A beautifully observed history of the British home front during the Napoleonic Wars by a celebrated historian. We know the thrilling, terrible stories of the battles of the Napoleonic Wars--but what of those left behind? The people on a Norfolk farm, in a Yorkshire mill, a Welsh iron foundry, an Irish village, a London bank, a Scottish mountain? The aristocrats and paupers, old and young, butchers and bakers and candlestick makers--how did the war touch their lives? Jenny Uglow, the prizewinning author of The Lunar Men and Nature's Engraver, follows the gripping back-and-forth of the first global war but turns the news upside down, seeing how it reached the people. Illustrated by the satires of Gillray and Rowlandson and the paintings of Turner and Constable, and combining the familiar voices of Austen, Wordsworth, Scott, and Byron with others lost in the crowd, In These Times delves into the archives to tell the moving story of how people lived and loved and sang and wrote, struggling through hard times and opening new horizons that would change their country for a century"--… (more)
Media reviews
For the next 22 years, barring a brief interlude in 1802-3, the two nations were engaged in a conflict that touched people in all parts of Britain. Writes Uglow: “Everyone shared in the war.” Curious to discover how it affected those at home “waiting, working, watching”, she has chosen a
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cast of representative families – soldiers, farmers, writers, bankers, mill-owners – and followed their fortunes. She describes her hugely ambitious project as “a cavalcade with a host of actors – a crowd biography”. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member souloftherose
Jenny Uglow writes so well that none of this very detailed, 600+ page social history felt difficult to get through. As a social history the focus is on what life in Britain was like throughout the 22 years the Napoleonic Wars were being fought but there were enough details in the book about the
The physical layout of the Faber hardback is beautiful - each chapter opens with an illustration from a contemporary cartoonist/satirist, as do the index, bibliography etc. It gives the whole book a feeling of being steeped in the period Uglow is covering.
A fascinating book. Even if you think you're not interested in the Napoleonic Wars, I think Uglow would change your mind.
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wars themselves for me to feel like I now have a better understanding of those too. Uglow draws on written accounts which include some of the Lennox sisters, politicians, authors such as Jane Austen, Walter Scott and Maria Edgeworth but also farmers, bankers, sailors - all sorts of middle class and middling class folk. It's testimony to Uglow's writing and organisational skills that the book never feels overwhelming and that she manages to cover the detail (how many ships, guns and men) as well as zooming in to give the reader the idea of the effects of the 22 year war on families and individuals.The physical layout of the Faber hardback is beautiful - each chapter opens with an illustration from a contemporary cartoonist/satirist, as do the index, bibliography etc. It gives the whole book a feeling of being steeped in the period Uglow is covering.
A fascinating book. Even if you think you're not interested in the Napoleonic Wars, I think Uglow would change your mind.
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LibraryThing member antiquary
Very lively social history of the British "home front" during the French Revolution/Napoleonic Wars, based on an extremely widelv range of sources, including not only the prolific ladies and gentlemen of the elite but the much more rarely preserved records of the lower classes. The author is a
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pleasant grandmotherly lady who shows great enthusiasm for her subjects (I heard her talk at the National Archives March 18, 2015). Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
An enjoyable book. Uglow has created a firm chronological frame for covering the Napoleonic period. It is well illustrated by using a lot of printed cartoons by James Gillray, a forerunner of "Dunesbury"'s Gary Trudeau. They could have been printed a little larger, but the text in the balloons can
This is a useful addition to the professional library on the period.
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be read with the aid of a magnifying glass. The prose is lively, and the information chosen does follow the theme of labour unrest quite cleverly. It does give the reader the impression of being there, or listening to a distant ancestor's stories, with the advantage of footnotes.This is a useful addition to the professional library on the period.
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LibraryThing member nessreader
Uglow is a fantastic mass market historian, and her book on Gaskell is one of the best biographies I've ever read; her book on Hogarth I recommend immensely, but..
This, about the Napoleonic home front, is so diffuse. Uglow's writing is as lucid as ever and she has a journalist's eye for expressive
This, about the Napoleonic home front, is so diffuse. Uglow's writing is as lucid as ever and she has a journalist's eye for expressive
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details. It covers over 2 decades. It covers rich and poor, rural and city, military and civilian, north and south, and you can hardly see the overall picture for the anecdotes. Show Less
LibraryThing member pierthinker
The French Revolution, the life of Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars must be the most written about era of history. Ushering in the modern era, these are times we can relate to most easily and directly; plus, they are full of action, intrigue, politics, hour and engaging derring-do, which also
The research here is extensive and the selection of texts is just about perfect.
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helps. But, how to address this era with a new twist? Jenny Uglow has produced a book that provides that twist an opens up a whole new perspective on these times. This book focuses not on the politics, the military action or the broad historical narrative, but on the lives of ordinary British people through the Napoleonic Wars at all levels of society. Further, she does this through the words - letters, diaries, journals, pamphlets, books - of these individuals. What we get is a remarkable insight into how these people lived their lives, how they reacted to events, how they heard about these events and how they were affected by Britain's involvement in a conflict lasting 22 years. We hear how people benefited from the War, suffered losses, lost loved ones, changed with the times (as people always eventually do), laughed and loved.The research here is extensive and the selection of texts is just about perfect.
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LibraryThing member vguy
Skilfully done of course, and full of human touches, but a trifle bitty. She ranges from top to bottom of British society but the effect is ultimately a patchwork, like a short story anthology or a roman a lettres. Her "Lunar men" gave a more coherent interlinked story.
LibraryThing member tommi180744
Thoroughly good read on a somewhat neglected aspect of the British experience and perspective during the Napoleonic era. Informative concerning all levels of the British social order in the period.
Awards
Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize (Shortlist — 2014)
Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction (Longlist — 2014)
PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize (Shortlist — 2015)
Language
Original publication date
2014