The Penguin Social History of Britain: English Society in the Eighteenth Century

by Roy Porter

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.

ebook

Published November 1, 2001

About the author

Roy'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 )

Reviews

[G r e g :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful romp through 18th century Britain. Roy Porter stuffs his whistle-stop tour with dizzying mentions of bewildering moments that feel almost anecdotal in tone.

This work is wildly informative, filled with citable information and reviews of the historiography where relevant, but it never deviates from the delightful tone that gives the feeling of being told about the 18th century by a jolly drunk contemporary.