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Folio Society History of England #7
English Society in the 18th Century
A portrait of 18th century England, from its princes to its paupers, from its metropolis to its smallest hamlet. The topics covered include - diet, housing, prisons, rural festivals, bordellos, plays, paintings, and work and wages.
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.
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.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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894 people want to read
About the author
Roy Porter
211 books124 followersRoy's books cover several fields: the history of geology, London, 18th-Century British ideas and society, medicine, madness, quackery, patients and practitioners, literature and art, on which subjects (and others) he published over 200 books are articles.
List of works can be found @ wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Porter )
List of works can be found @ wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Porter )
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
May 21, 2020
The eighteenth century must have stunk. I live quite near a stables, and taking a walk round here involves stepping over and around a lot of horseshit; the state of London's unpaved streets, which had innumerable horses trotting on them all day long, must have been a sight to behold (and besmell), crossing-sweeping urchins notwithstanding. Not to mention how rarely people changed their clothes – before cotton became cheap, children were often sewn into theirs for the winter.
That was much the same as elsewhere, back then. In other ways, though, England was set apart. Foreign visitors in the 1700s thought the place was completely bonkers. I suppose some modern visitors feel the same; but even allowing for travellers' exaggerations, there was clearly something different going on compared to the rest of Europe, a quintessence historians have tried to nail down: is this why the industrial revolution happened here? Is this why an actual revolution didn't happen here?
There was a certain laissez-faire quality to everything. While France had tens of thousands of hereditary bureaucrats, the Treasury in 1743 was run by a staff of 23, and the Admiralty got by on just eight. There was no real police force to speak of, except a few volunteer (and unpaid) constables who were essentially playing dress-up; but better ‘governed by a mob, than a standing army’, as Charles James Fox put it. And although there were tensions between Anglicans, Dissenters and Catholics, it didn't come to much more than political preferences and bad-tempered pamphlets; as Porter says, this ‘amounts to little when it is remembered that the entire Protestant population was expelled from France in 1685, and heretics were still being burnt throughout the century in Catholic Europe, Pietists likewise in Calvinist Switzerland’.
There's a sense in which this helped smooth over political tensions. While Georgian England was ‘unashamedly inegalitarian, hierarchical, hereditary and privileged’, it was also ‘ramshackle enough not to be consistently oppressive’. The landed or moneyed aristocracy ran things to their own benefit, and injustices were countless – yet also, somehow, a bit half-hearted or at least random. There was not much sense of genuine proletarian anger (or indeed of a proletariat at all) until the explosive 1790s, and even then, the angry speeches and anarchist societies never really spilled over into actual organised violence. Apparently the English didn't quite have the stomach for it.
It was a time of open bodily functions and similarly frank language. Henry Carr, house-hunting, told a friend that his wife ‘wanted a canny hole of her own to fart in, to use a Northern expression’. Sex was increasingly naturalised, in a last burst of earthiness before the nineteenth century closed in. ‘The libido was liberated, and erotic gratification increasingly dissociated from sin and shame.’ At the same time, the countervailing currents were already swirling: towards the end of the century, women were gradually reshaped into ‘guardians of morality’, and people's vocabulary was restructured under the demands of ‘delicacy’:
‘“Victorianism” was already,’ Porter says, ‘casting its long shadows in the age of Victoria's grandparents.’ Roy Porter sets out this expansive and dense survey with his characteristic vim, capturing personalities in expert little thumbnail sketches and quoting from diaries and memoirs to decisive effect. He also has a nifty line in wordplay: he describes the way new churches were built from the funds of existing ones as ‘robbing St Peter's to pay St Paul's’, and, noting the refusal of Quakers to serve in positions of political power, he deadpans, ‘There were no Friends in high places’.
This was first published back in 1982, but it's hard to see anyone else doing it better, even if they can bring the scholarship up to date. It's an excellent grounding in the weird contradictions of this strange century, which went through every kind of turmoil but in the end, Porter concludes, just ended up demonstrating ‘the elasticity and tenacity of the status quo’.
That was much the same as elsewhere, back then. In other ways, though, England was set apart. Foreign visitors in the 1700s thought the place was completely bonkers. I suppose some modern visitors feel the same; but even allowing for travellers' exaggerations, there was clearly something different going on compared to the rest of Europe, a quintessence historians have tried to nail down: is this why the industrial revolution happened here? Is this why an actual revolution didn't happen here?
There was a certain laissez-faire quality to everything. While France had tens of thousands of hereditary bureaucrats, the Treasury in 1743 was run by a staff of 23, and the Admiralty got by on just eight. There was no real police force to speak of, except a few volunteer (and unpaid) constables who were essentially playing dress-up; but better ‘governed by a mob, than a standing army’, as Charles James Fox put it. And although there were tensions between Anglicans, Dissenters and Catholics, it didn't come to much more than political preferences and bad-tempered pamphlets; as Porter says, this ‘amounts to little when it is remembered that the entire Protestant population was expelled from France in 1685, and heretics were still being burnt throughout the century in Catholic Europe, Pietists likewise in Calvinist Switzerland’.
There's a sense in which this helped smooth over political tensions. While Georgian England was ‘unashamedly inegalitarian, hierarchical, hereditary and privileged’, it was also ‘ramshackle enough not to be consistently oppressive’. The landed or moneyed aristocracy ran things to their own benefit, and injustices were countless – yet also, somehow, a bit half-hearted or at least random. There was not much sense of genuine proletarian anger (or indeed of a proletariat at all) until the explosive 1790s, and even then, the angry speeches and anarchist societies never really spilled over into actual organised violence. Apparently the English didn't quite have the stomach for it.
It was a time of open bodily functions and similarly frank language. Henry Carr, house-hunting, told a friend that his wife ‘wanted a canny hole of her own to fart in, to use a Northern expression’. Sex was increasingly naturalised, in a last burst of earthiness before the nineteenth century closed in. ‘The libido was liberated, and erotic gratification increasingly dissociated from sin and shame.’ At the same time, the countervailing currents were already swirling: towards the end of the century, women were gradually reshaped into ‘guardians of morality’, and people's vocabulary was restructured under the demands of ‘delicacy’:
Codpiece Row (next to Breeches Yard in London) thus had to be renamed Coppice Row. Some would no longer call a bitch a bitch, but rather a ‘mother mastiff’. No longer were women ‘big with child’ but ‘pregnant’. ‘Bellies’ became ‘stomachs’, and ‘smocks’ and ‘shifts’ became ‘chemises’…
‘“Victorianism” was already,’ Porter says, ‘casting its long shadows in the age of Victoria's grandparents.’ Roy Porter sets out this expansive and dense survey with his characteristic vim, capturing personalities in expert little thumbnail sketches and quoting from diaries and memoirs to decisive effect. He also has a nifty line in wordplay: he describes the way new churches were built from the funds of existing ones as ‘robbing St Peter's to pay St Paul's’, and, noting the refusal of Quakers to serve in positions of political power, he deadpans, ‘There were no Friends in high places’.
This was first published back in 1982, but it's hard to see anyone else doing it better, even if they can bring the scholarship up to date. It's an excellent grounding in the weird contradictions of this strange century, which went through every kind of turmoil but in the end, Porter concludes, just ended up demonstrating ‘the elasticity and tenacity of the status quo’.
September 14, 2019
This is an incredibly thorough trawl through a century of accelerating social change, and it largely kept me engaged and interested. Perhaps the abundance of detail and statistics could get a bit much at times for this non-specialist, e.g.
This is also written as if from an Olympian height in terms of its voice (something I've never minded, haha!), but its somewhat Mandarin Oxbridginess can grate at times as well, e.g.
But really, I am nit-picking here. This book gives the curious reader an incredibly well-researched, almost pan-optical overview of a fascinating century. In his conclusion, he finally gathers together all of the threads he is weaving on his auto-loom:
Many of the conurbations of modern England – Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford, Huddersfield, Preston, etc. – had merely been sprawling villages in 1700, but had grown into great towns by 1800, the change being due largely to industrial developments. The classic mill towns were shooting up before the end of the century. By 1801 Wigan had a population of 10,989, Bury 7,072, Oldham 12,024, Blackburn 11,980, Bolton 12,549, Preston 11,887 and Stockport 14,850.Thankfully, that level of fine-grained statistical detail doesn't happen all that often.
This is also written as if from an Olympian height in terms of its voice (something I've never minded, haha!), but its somewhat Mandarin Oxbridginess can grate at times as well, e.g.
Even rapid industrial change, or the abrupt disruption to ingrained patterns of rural life that enclosure could create, did not produce Jacqueries or la grande peur.Additionally (getting all my quibbles outta my quiver outta the gate for sure, to mix metaphors in a way that would drive the esteemed author batty, I'm sure), this dude kinda sorta assumes we all Englishy enough to know what parrochial items like "worsted" is, to name just one of many in-group items. And the book is divided thematically, too, which does have its advantages, though a part of me did occasionally long to be chronologically force-marched through time....
But really, I am nit-picking here. This book gives the curious reader an incredibly well-researched, almost pan-optical overview of a fascinating century. In his conclusion, he finally gathers together all of the threads he is weaving on his auto-loom:
First, the fundamental strength and resilience of its social hierarchy. It was presided over by a super-confident proprietorial oligarchy, swimming with the tide, with no obvious Achilles’ heel; an order whose dominion was consolidated early in the century and never – at least not till the 1790s – seriously challenged, let alone jeopardized.
[…]
My second theme has been this: though the social hierarchy was inegalitarian and oozing privilege (some of it hereditary), it was neither rigid nor brittle. There was continual adaptiveness to challenge and individual mobility, up, down and sideways. More than in other nations, money was a passport through social frontiers. English society was not frozen into immobilized, distended and archaic forms.
[…]
The ruling order was, however, alert to the problems of maintaining order within the fluid and to some extent polarizing society they presided over, recognizing that they had to find ways to continue cracking the whip of capitalism without the workhorses rearing up. Hence the third main focus of this book has lain on their attempts to secure consensus within this acquisitive, restless society.
Recommended!
February 5, 2012
I am writing a novel set in the late 18th century and bought this book as a starting point for my research. Compared with other, more “academic” texts on the period, I found it a quick, accessible read that did an excellent job of bringing Georgian England – warts and all – to life.
Nine chapters cover the social hierarchy; the living conditions of the rich, the poor and the middling man (and woman); politics and the judicial system; religion and irreligion; the birth of our present-day materialistic society; the beginning of the industrial revolution; and more.
Detailed but not overwhelming, with an extensive further reading list and an appendix of statistical tables, I would recommend English Society in the Eighteenth Century to anyone needing a broad introduction to the Hanoverian era.
Nine chapters cover the social hierarchy; the living conditions of the rich, the poor and the middling man (and woman); politics and the judicial system; religion and irreligion; the birth of our present-day materialistic society; the beginning of the industrial revolution; and more.
Detailed but not overwhelming, with an extensive further reading list and an appendix of statistical tables, I would recommend English Society in the Eighteenth Century to anyone needing a broad introduction to the Hanoverian era.
December 28, 2012
This is absolutely one of the best books ever written about the English 18th century. Porter has a wry sense of humor, and the details and anecdotes woven into the data make the information palatable and even fun. If you really want an introduction to the age, this is the place to begin.
April 29, 2010
Breathtakingly, Porter succeeds in conveying a four-dimensional multifaceted picture of English Society in the Eighteenth Century. If you want a chronological story or a detailed history of a particular facet of the English eighteenth century, this book is not for you. It helped that I was reasonably familiar with a lot of what he describes, but having someone lay out the whole picture, in wonderfully colorful language, was simply a pleasure. It makes me sad, once again, that he died so young.
August 16, 2018
Read for my dissertation. A useful book to get the gist of the English eighteenth century, especially if you have an interest in the poor, trade, and society (of course).
Wish it was more clearly divided into topics because the chapters are long and their titles are fairly ambiguous. This meant I wasn’t sure what I was about to read and if it was going to be useful or not.
Wish it was more clearly divided into topics because the chapters are long and their titles are fairly ambiguous. This meant I wasn’t sure what I was about to read and if it was going to be useful or not.
April 3, 2023
I picked this up because I needed something to read and it was there. Although it was interesting, it takes a statistical approach to the topic and thus felt like I was reading a book of lists at times. The point of it was that the age was nowhere near as placid as it seemed and that there was rapid growth enabled by advancements in technology (even before the advent of the steam engine). According to the author, the upper classes were slightly more permeable than on the continent, allowing those at the top to dirty their hands in banking and trade, and for merchants and factory owners to attain the status of nobles. This greased the wheels for investment in technology making England "the workshop of the world."
The changes were not reflected in the House of Commons where up and coming population centers in Lancashire (Liverpool ballooned as a result of the cotton trade) were underrepresented in favor of less populated hamlets in and around Cornwall. The change for the average worker from rural to factory work necessitated a crackdown on morality by industrialists like Josiah Wedgewood which came to full-fruition in the next century. That was among the more interesting chapters as he reminded me of Henry Ford.
The changes were not reflected in the House of Commons where up and coming population centers in Lancashire (Liverpool ballooned as a result of the cotton trade) were underrepresented in favor of less populated hamlets in and around Cornwall. The change for the average worker from rural to factory work necessitated a crackdown on morality by industrialists like Josiah Wedgewood which came to full-fruition in the next century. That was among the more interesting chapters as he reminded me of Henry Ford.
May 4, 2022
I last looked in any detailed way at the history of the 18th century in the British Isles in 1982 when I studied with Prof John M Ward a unit entitled "Crime, Industrialisation and the Law".
At that time, generalising brutally, there were three principal visions of 18th century Britain.
First, there was the hangover of the Whig view which saw the Industrial Revolution as another step in the inexorable move to greater tolerance and freedom (political, religious, legal and economic) that the Whig nobility had started in the 17th century, and which had been "completed" in the social security-supported, unionised industrialism of the mid-20th century.
The second group were the post World War II Marxist historians who confronted the Whigs with the depressing world of a revolution that created and exploited the working class, whose conditions were constantly being depressed and for whom the liberties beloved of the Whigs were only even more an instrument of the oppression of the exploited classes. These academic Marxists, however, marshalled their evidence. Like so many battalions of the Red Army, and confident in the rightness of their cause, they sedulously accumulated evidence and tabulated statistics to demonstrate the constantly worsening condition of the increasingly exploited working class and presented all the Whiggish advancements as either accommodations by though those in power to buy off the working class or, more hopefully, as the first steps towards their socialist paradise (which, in their heart of hearts, they feared would never come). Historians like EP Thompson and Christophers Hill and Hibbert were the leaders in this area.
The third group were the next generation of Marxist historians whose Marxism was more structural and crude in its approach and who promoted everything as being an example of the inevitable class war. Every area was a battleground in which a remorseless ruling class sought to grind down and an active working class sought to overturn.
In 1982 Roy Porter wrote his first edition of English Society in the 18th century (with a second edition in 1990). Its publication would have changed significantly the approach of our course . The 18th century in Porter's eyes was neither a world of sunny uplands of progress and liberty, nor a smoggy, cloudy, rainy world of grim oppression and declining standards. Even more so it was not a gymnasium of class struggle. Porter attempts to convey the complexity of a society composed principally of individual human beings in human families which are part of various circles of association (religious, artistic, sporting) and to capture the various and different threads that bind them together and distinguish and divide them while all that, once being recognisably a single society. His view of the 18th century brings together politics, economics, technology, education, the arts, religion and philosophy. He shows a society that is fundamentally capable of being lived in by individuals who perceived that they had a significant control of their own lives and the opportunity to make significant decisions about their own lives. He dignifies the people who choose drunkenness and dissolution - they are not victims of someone else's oppression; they are making the choices as to how best to live the life that is most authentic to themselves.
Of course, all these people are constrained by the need to make a living. Many of these people struggle to keep themselves afloat, together with their family, and some fail and are washed up on the tidal flats of society. But the society that Porter projects is one where the range of lives open to a person who manages to achieve Micawberish happiness is great and within the the the the grasp of any motivated person. They can achieve their own lives of self-fulfillment, either through thrifty toil or through profligacy; either through industry or through flippancy; either by entertainment or by morality. The 18th-century is one in which both John Wesley and John Cleland can equally live, survive and thrive.
This 18th-century is one in which people can rise and can fall, in which great deeds can be done and in which petty harm can be caused. In which philosophical truth can be sought and at the same time, economic change can be harnessed. It is as diverse as the rage of outlooks for of every individual. It allows for people to group themselves as they see fit, but does not condemn them simply to be to be members of any group to which they belong, let alone a lumpenproletariat.
Porter confronts the real question of people wanting to do better, wanting to rise in the social hierarchy. He notes both the openness of the elite society that allows such advancement and the individual means by which it occurs, as well as the substantial social aspirations that lead to large proportions of the population seeking to better themselves. At the same time He notes that one of the influences of this is to actually make the highest-rated strata of society more like there more accommodating of the lower strata. He notes how each stratum of society allows the participation in their activities of other strata. For example in horse racing where the racing of the lords provided entertainment for the middling and lower classes (and opportunities for pick pockets) while , members of the upper strata participate in the activities of lower strata - the aristocratic boxers and the Earl who played for the cricket team captained by his gardener.
Porter's world is complex, knobbly, contradictory; it has centrifugal and centripetal forces operating not merely in one plane, but in three planes and across time. It is fundamentally human.
When I read this it occurred to me how we try to take out the richness and complexity that exists in so many of our societies by trying to turn human beings into actors in an academic or a theoretical conflict. The current academic sleight of hand that seeks to achieve this explanatory device is the concept of identity. No one denies that individuals have identity. Nor does anyone deny that a person's identity is an important part of that person's self-image. However, what Porter reminds us is that people are not just the group to which they belong or with whihc they identify. They are not just a lumped-together identity and to treat them as such, is to deny their fundamental individuality.
It is convenient to try to eliminate individual characteristics when studying societies and try to find vast engines of change. Porter however challenges that. The 18th-century that emerges is very much that of Adam Smith's market of individuals and it is only in the result that you can see what the outcomes for the entire society may be of those individual actions, And even if you do that, Porter reminds us that it is each individual who has their own life that is their own testament of whether their life is a success or not and the result is to be found in the end, in their own self assessment and not in where they fit in somebody's attempts to understand their the society which they live.
At that time, generalising brutally, there were three principal visions of 18th century Britain.
First, there was the hangover of the Whig view which saw the Industrial Revolution as another step in the inexorable move to greater tolerance and freedom (political, religious, legal and economic) that the Whig nobility had started in the 17th century, and which had been "completed" in the social security-supported, unionised industrialism of the mid-20th century.
The second group were the post World War II Marxist historians who confronted the Whigs with the depressing world of a revolution that created and exploited the working class, whose conditions were constantly being depressed and for whom the liberties beloved of the Whigs were only even more an instrument of the oppression of the exploited classes. These academic Marxists, however, marshalled their evidence. Like so many battalions of the Red Army, and confident in the rightness of their cause, they sedulously accumulated evidence and tabulated statistics to demonstrate the constantly worsening condition of the increasingly exploited working class and presented all the Whiggish advancements as either accommodations by though those in power to buy off the working class or, more hopefully, as the first steps towards their socialist paradise (which, in their heart of hearts, they feared would never come). Historians like EP Thompson and Christophers Hill and Hibbert were the leaders in this area.
The third group were the next generation of Marxist historians whose Marxism was more structural and crude in its approach and who promoted everything as being an example of the inevitable class war. Every area was a battleground in which a remorseless ruling class sought to grind down and an active working class sought to overturn.
In 1982 Roy Porter wrote his first edition of English Society in the 18th century (with a second edition in 1990). Its publication would have changed significantly the approach of our course . The 18th century in Porter's eyes was neither a world of sunny uplands of progress and liberty, nor a smoggy, cloudy, rainy world of grim oppression and declining standards. Even more so it was not a gymnasium of class struggle. Porter attempts to convey the complexity of a society composed principally of individual human beings in human families which are part of various circles of association (religious, artistic, sporting) and to capture the various and different threads that bind them together and distinguish and divide them while all that, once being recognisably a single society. His view of the 18th century brings together politics, economics, technology, education, the arts, religion and philosophy. He shows a society that is fundamentally capable of being lived in by individuals who perceived that they had a significant control of their own lives and the opportunity to make significant decisions about their own lives. He dignifies the people who choose drunkenness and dissolution - they are not victims of someone else's oppression; they are making the choices as to how best to live the life that is most authentic to themselves.
Of course, all these people are constrained by the need to make a living. Many of these people struggle to keep themselves afloat, together with their family, and some fail and are washed up on the tidal flats of society. But the society that Porter projects is one where the range of lives open to a person who manages to achieve Micawberish happiness is great and within the the the the grasp of any motivated person. They can achieve their own lives of self-fulfillment, either through thrifty toil or through profligacy; either through industry or through flippancy; either by entertainment or by morality. The 18th-century is one in which both John Wesley and John Cleland can equally live, survive and thrive.
This 18th-century is one in which people can rise and can fall, in which great deeds can be done and in which petty harm can be caused. In which philosophical truth can be sought and at the same time, economic change can be harnessed. It is as diverse as the rage of outlooks for of every individual. It allows for people to group themselves as they see fit, but does not condemn them simply to be to be members of any group to which they belong, let alone a lumpenproletariat.
Porter confronts the real question of people wanting to do better, wanting to rise in the social hierarchy. He notes both the openness of the elite society that allows such advancement and the individual means by which it occurs, as well as the substantial social aspirations that lead to large proportions of the population seeking to better themselves. At the same time He notes that one of the influences of this is to actually make the highest-rated strata of society more like there more accommodating of the lower strata. He notes how each stratum of society allows the participation in their activities of other strata. For example in horse racing where the racing of the lords provided entertainment for the middling and lower classes (and opportunities for pick pockets) while , members of the upper strata participate in the activities of lower strata - the aristocratic boxers and the Earl who played for the cricket team captained by his gardener.
Porter's world is complex, knobbly, contradictory; it has centrifugal and centripetal forces operating not merely in one plane, but in three planes and across time. It is fundamentally human.
When I read this it occurred to me how we try to take out the richness and complexity that exists in so many of our societies by trying to turn human beings into actors in an academic or a theoretical conflict. The current academic sleight of hand that seeks to achieve this explanatory device is the concept of identity. No one denies that individuals have identity. Nor does anyone deny that a person's identity is an important part of that person's self-image. However, what Porter reminds us is that people are not just the group to which they belong or with whihc they identify. They are not just a lumped-together identity and to treat them as such, is to deny their fundamental individuality.
It is convenient to try to eliminate individual characteristics when studying societies and try to find vast engines of change. Porter however challenges that. The 18th-century that emerges is very much that of Adam Smith's market of individuals and it is only in the result that you can see what the outcomes for the entire society may be of those individual actions, And even if you do that, Porter reminds us that it is each individual who has their own life that is their own testament of whether their life is a success or not and the result is to be found in the end, in their own self assessment and not in where they fit in somebody's attempts to understand their the society which they live.
August 6, 2012
Ok, first off, other folks seem to have really liked this one, so maybe I just have a Bad Attitude about it. Maybe it just isn't quite what I was expecting it to be, and that's why I'm having such a hard time with it. But as much as I looooove Simon Vance, even his magical narration isn't making this any more interesting to me. I read a lot of non-fiction, so it's not that I can't handle that, and I am generally pretty fascinated with history. But a quarter of the way through this book, I feel like Simon Vance has been reading me a very, very long encyclopedia article on the subject, and I haven't really learned anything new yet. I notice that several other folks who have read this have shelved it as research, and I guess that's what it feels like to me--which is great, if that's what you're looking for, but probably not the best bet for listening to in the car on the way to and from work. I'm not going to finish it. But I will definitely keep the print version in mind if I ever decide I would like to research this time period out of something other than idle curiosity.
February 12, 2019
I've recenty reread this and it is still a classic of its kind. Herein lies pretty much you ever wanted to know about C18th England. Porter had the ability to combine the grand narative with the revealing, or the questioning, detail and here he deploys it all. From his mastery of the early industrial revolution, to the unfortunate highwayman shot by his target; from the due attention given to women in this era to the development of medicine, most angles are covered.
Indeed, it is now about as close as you can get to experiencing one of his lectures. Porter was simply one of the best History lecturers and writers, I've encountered and this is him at his best.
Indeed, it is now about as close as you can get to experiencing one of his lectures. Porter was simply one of the best History lecturers and writers, I've encountered and this is him at his best.
March 26, 2018
Incredibly fascinating account of pre-Victorian England. One thing that really stuck with me is Porter's description of various efforts undertaken by the authorities to curb homelessness and crime (in London) over the course of 150 years or so. These efforts ranged from (in modern Western terms) the ultra-conservative to the ultra-liberal -- i.e., from capital punishment for minor crimes all the way to something like a universal basic income, just handing out money to the poor -- and literally nothing worked, which might indicate that this is just an intractable problem for modern societies?
June 4, 2016
I read this book to further my understanding of the England of Jane Austen's time. It is densely packed, covering many areas, including economics and religion. Obviously, no one area is covered in depth, but it's a very overview for the layman, and the author provides a list of further reading for each area covered. I only wish there had been more about women and how they participated in this society.
June 10, 2011
Phew. It took me a while to get through this book because it is so densely packed with statistics, facts and information. All of this is beautifully presented in an erudite and enjoyable writing style. The only thing lacking was pictures/illustrations/etc. Highly recommended for history buffs.
August 26, 2016
A surprisingly sensible people were those 18th century English! None of that false Victorian modesty that followed after nor the New Agey stuff of the modern days. A popular verse at the time, this pretty much sums it up: "Life but a little can supply - a few good f** and then you die!" :)))
February 10, 2020
I had to use this book to do some research, and I've never enjoyed researching more! This is a very instructive book, very well organised and things are explained in detail and clearly; don't hesitate to read it if you need it!
February 13, 2011
Fascinating look at the society of Jane Austen. More trivia about the 18th century than you can imagine!
June 30, 2012
Can't wait to see whether the English were any more civilized than the French during this period. Oy vey!
P.S. No, they weren't. : )
P.S. No, they weren't. : )
November 4, 2013
I enjoyed this very much. A huge amount of information is engagingly conveyed, fascinating.
June 10, 2016
Roy Porter is a brilliant historian and a lively prose writer. This is one of his better books, a commanding synthesis of eighteenth-century English society in all its complexities.
July 16, 2023
A strange combination of facts and figures and familiar information that seemed to be repeated in an English accent. Many of the issues that confronted English working people also were present in the states, but the class struggle in Brittan seemingly is clearer. What was perhaps most interesting is many of the issues confronting working people confront people today – an unfair criminal justice system, religious involvement in government, contracting out of work and the gig economy, the changing role of the family and parents, and politicians who would rather represent the 1% rather than 51% of the population.
Much of the coverage of Jane Austen’s period was recognized – the change from farming to agriculture to manufacturing, child labor, a more remote father and various health issues that cut down young people, the raise in education and expanded faith-based benefits. It was interesting to read about the changing transportation and how canals were built to increase commerce but also altered population centers, sometimes working and sometimes financial failures.
This was a time when there was massive, mostly positive change. Travel time was being cut in half. Canals were created to move products and increase wealth beyond London. People could set up a manufacturing facility with limited capital and lots of guts. Banks were rarely involved in the growth of the manufacturing society. This was moving people from rural areas to towns that increasingly were growing in wealth and comfort. The population was increasing, allowing for more workers and taxes.
New products were also being created. For example, in 1799, a bridge was built of iron and ships were being constructed of iron as opposed to stone. Shortly thereafter, ships were being built by iron. It allowed mines to be dug deeper, causing safety issues for miners. Workers were under new pressure with new illnesses and health issues. Repeatedly the government took the side of capital when workers tried to organize and improve conditions; the English government passed 40 acts against increasing workers wages including a 1721 and 1769 law against tailers, a 1777 law against hatters, one in 1797 against papermakers and other industrial changes that tried to weaken workers’ power.
The book raised the point about laws against theft from employers. Evidently workers could take little things to improve their lives. The laws came down hard, putting people in prison for taking anything from the employer.
Mr. Porter did a good job explaining how there was a rise in charity, but it was mostly based on the rich and centered on self-help and bringing in a faith component. There was a concentration on people’s personal work, their faith, and an angle against alcohol.
The strength of Brittan society was their ability to stay clear of most laws, focus on growth, and peaceful attention to profit. While the government kept most increasing profits with the top of the capitalism, things were improving for working people enough that they were kept in line. Cultural activities, debate clubs, ability to buy more, and enjoy a bit easier to live. Printing presses were more plentiful as was libraries; people were able to access books, magazines, even porn. The English started to play cricket, boxing, and horse racing and enjoy gambling on the results of games. Plays were offered frequently beyond London. The author points out that religious pluralism had an unusual mark on religion, reducing the power of the church since people could go to various churches – or none at all.
Much of the coverage of Jane Austen’s period was recognized – the change from farming to agriculture to manufacturing, child labor, a more remote father and various health issues that cut down young people, the raise in education and expanded faith-based benefits. It was interesting to read about the changing transportation and how canals were built to increase commerce but also altered population centers, sometimes working and sometimes financial failures.
This was a time when there was massive, mostly positive change. Travel time was being cut in half. Canals were created to move products and increase wealth beyond London. People could set up a manufacturing facility with limited capital and lots of guts. Banks were rarely involved in the growth of the manufacturing society. This was moving people from rural areas to towns that increasingly were growing in wealth and comfort. The population was increasing, allowing for more workers and taxes.
New products were also being created. For example, in 1799, a bridge was built of iron and ships were being constructed of iron as opposed to stone. Shortly thereafter, ships were being built by iron. It allowed mines to be dug deeper, causing safety issues for miners. Workers were under new pressure with new illnesses and health issues. Repeatedly the government took the side of capital when workers tried to organize and improve conditions; the English government passed 40 acts against increasing workers wages including a 1721 and 1769 law against tailers, a 1777 law against hatters, one in 1797 against papermakers and other industrial changes that tried to weaken workers’ power.
The book raised the point about laws against theft from employers. Evidently workers could take little things to improve their lives. The laws came down hard, putting people in prison for taking anything from the employer.
Mr. Porter did a good job explaining how there was a rise in charity, but it was mostly based on the rich and centered on self-help and bringing in a faith component. There was a concentration on people’s personal work, their faith, and an angle against alcohol.
The strength of Brittan society was their ability to stay clear of most laws, focus on growth, and peaceful attention to profit. While the government kept most increasing profits with the top of the capitalism, things were improving for working people enough that they were kept in line. Cultural activities, debate clubs, ability to buy more, and enjoy a bit easier to live. Printing presses were more plentiful as was libraries; people were able to access books, magazines, even porn. The English started to play cricket, boxing, and horse racing and enjoy gambling on the results of games. Plays were offered frequently beyond London. The author points out that religious pluralism had an unusual mark on religion, reducing the power of the church since people could go to various churches – or none at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2022
A very detailed, concise introductory survey of English life from the late seventeenth to early nineteenth centuries, this book focuses on many of the key changes that brought England from the turmoil of the seventeenth century into a place where future King George III one day exclaimed his glorying "in the name of Briton." Though technically a medical historian by training, Porter does well in giving the reader a glimpse into the English world as it was during the Augustan and Georgian periods (mostly Georgian), taking the reader from the bucolic countryside of the shires, to the muck-infested streets of London and up-and-coming towns like Birmingham and Manchester. Each chapter deals with a particular facet of the social conventions of the time, such as popular music and religion, and immerses the reader in the world of the (admittedly short) eighteenth century. Porter's central argument (if one can be teased out) is that the English nation remained ever-changing yet conservative, navigating the wild and wacky world of European geopolitics in the midst of revolution and disorder wreaking havoc across the world—even in the Thirteen Colonies, closer to the British doorstep. Even as Britain's rigid Chain of Being adapted to the changing world around it, inferiors were still instructed to keep their places and be seen and unheard.
The sole drawbacks were thus: I wish Porter could have dealt more with each topic in fuller treatments rather than as small, disjointed vignettes. He could have made the chapters shorter as well to keep things tighter and more focused.
Overall: I rate this book three stars due to the improvement I think it needs. Then again, unfortunately, there is no room for it because the author died twenty years ago of an illness in his fifties. He was somewhere in his middle thirties when he wrote this in the early 1980s.
The sole drawbacks were thus: I wish Porter could have dealt more with each topic in fuller treatments rather than as small, disjointed vignettes. He could have made the chapters shorter as well to keep things tighter and more focused.
Overall: I rate this book three stars due to the improvement I think it needs. Then again, unfortunately, there is no room for it because the author died twenty years ago of an illness in his fifties. He was somewhere in his middle thirties when he wrote this in the early 1980s.
June 13, 2020
As a history novice I was surprised by how enjoyably this lively survey reads. Mr. Porter delivers this assessment with witty wordplay and withering asides afforded by hindsight.
I most enjoyed the recurring theme of self-serving philanthropy which remains so popular today, such as when Hannah More presents the ideal pauper:
"And though I've no money
and though I've no lands
I've a head on my shoulders
and a pair of good hands.
So I'll work the whole day
and on Sundays I'll seek
at church how to bear
all the wants of the week."
Chapter 2 was a little heavy on the numbers, with, for example, counts of furriers and wigmakers over time, but after that it was smooth sailing, through topics both polite and surprising, to an enjoyable set of concluding summary thoughts.
I most enjoyed the recurring theme of self-serving philanthropy which remains so popular today, such as when Hannah More presents the ideal pauper:
"And though I've no money
and though I've no lands
I've a head on my shoulders
and a pair of good hands.
So I'll work the whole day
and on Sundays I'll seek
at church how to bear
all the wants of the week."
Chapter 2 was a little heavy on the numbers, with, for example, counts of furriers and wigmakers over time, but after that it was smooth sailing, through topics both polite and surprising, to an enjoyable set of concluding summary thoughts.
March 19, 2022
The author was obviously a man of great energy and erudition. This book is full of all kinds of useful information about the period in question, written from a progressive but undogmatic viewpoint. The style is fluent and readable, the text is serious but with some - rather hit and miss - humour. It is an entertaining read, not a dry academic book. Still, I found at times there was just too much rapid-fire data pouring out, and rather a lot of words casually dropped which I needed a dictionary for - and some weren't in my Oxford Reference! Sacerdotalism, wittols, advowsons among others. Eupeptic was a good one to learn though. Almost rates five stars, and certainly a recommended book on the subject, but those small irritations slightly downgrade it for me.
October 3, 2025
What a pleasure it was to read such a robust coverage of the years of the 1700s as were experienced by the British Empire.
Covering the shifting patterns within economic, political, religious, social arenas, both for the wealthy and the impoverished, Roy Porter delivers engrossing facts peppered with the same excellent dry humor I've come to believe must be a required attribute of historical writers.
Fascinating, funny, thought provoking it's truly impressive the breadth of knowledge that Porter delivers in what feels like a paltry 500 pages.
An excellent read for anyone who is interested in history (or simply enjoys learning), especially for those with a particular interest in the watershed eras of England and its people.
Covering the shifting patterns within economic, political, religious, social arenas, both for the wealthy and the impoverished, Roy Porter delivers engrossing facts peppered with the same excellent dry humor I've come to believe must be a required attribute of historical writers.
Fascinating, funny, thought provoking it's truly impressive the breadth of knowledge that Porter delivers in what feels like a paltry 500 pages.
An excellent read for anyone who is interested in history (or simply enjoys learning), especially for those with a particular interest in the watershed eras of England and its people.
September 25, 2020
Very detailed and well researched historical narrative of the 18th century which combines analysis and textual evidence form a variety of sources. I would never have thought there were so many links with our own time; the contrasting wealth between north and south, the power of London, the prevalence of the emerging service industries as employers( banking, insurance etc) and the rule of a strong elite of wealthy, landed gentry who were very happy to promote their friends and family to positions of influence. I wanted to know more about this era after watching several episodes of Harlots on TV.
January 21, 2024
The book is a good read, with lots of interesting information on people and their world in the 18th century. The author sometimes borders on exaggeration, because he adds emotional emphasis where he should be sticking to facts. Even though I understand French, the author's frequent use of random French words and expressions throughout the book is irritating, because it doesn't make sense that he's using them, therefore they make him sound like he's trying too hard. Overall though, it's a great insight on many aspects of society in the 18th century. The author packed a lot in, so you get to learn a lot in a short amount of time.
August 3, 2022
This is a magnificent, detailed overview of a particular century and its impact on a nation. Roy Porter is an infinitely knowledgeable guide, with an approachable style and wry humour who manages to organise a vast amount of material into thoughtfully clear sections without ever oversimplifying the content. I have so many bookmarks stuffed in this volume that I seem to have marked almost every page!
Essential reading for anyone interested in the changes wrought over the course of the 18th century in England. This is a classic text.
Essential reading for anyone interested in the changes wrought over the course of the 18th century in England. This is a classic text.
January 9, 2020
Such a fun book. I wish Porter would write one for every century in every country. Of necessity the author did not delve deeply into any one area of society, but the breadth was spectacular. I can't think of one stone he left unturned, including the importance of gambling! There were, of course, certain superficial mentions of topics that were wrong-headed, especially that related to the world outside of England at the time, but they were minor and forgivable in the larger scheme of the thing.
January 31, 2020
A difficult read with a lot of 'olde English', but still a fascinating journey to see what life was like in the past. This book came off as a traditional academic book at some points, and others it seemed to flow quite nicely. Overall I like it, was an interesting read. It's amazing how much luxury we take for granted in the present. It wasn't that long ago the vast majority of people suffered on levels we can't imagine.
December 31, 2023
Very readable academic prose on english society in 18th century. Lots of facts & figures (not all of which I could take in). Only negative were the numerous sideline notes added within the main text in brackets, rather than as footnotes. Made reading harder, so eventually resorted to skipping the notes in brackets.
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