When I first started working on my novel, I was intelligent enough to ask a good friend of mine (who is an excellent writer in her own right and a British subject to boot) if she would please, please, please be my beta reader. I let her know that the story was set during the Regency era, and asked how much she knew about that period of time. She replied that she knew there was a Regency era in British history, but that was all.
That, of course, is not a slight on her intelligence (because I secretly think she’s smarter than me), but it occurred to me that a lot of people might not know much about the period beyond the shirtless man on the cover of the historical romance they saw at the bookstore. It also occurred to me that an introduction to the period would make a good introduction to this blog, but there are a lot of great articles already out there. So rather than rehash what’s already been said, I’ve included links to some of the best articles I’ve found so far to get you started.
The teacher in me is yelling “No, no! It’s not a credible source!” but Wikipedia has a good article on the British Regency, complete with a timeline, lists of important people, places, and publications. There are also some nice images for the visual learners among us—the Frost Fair picture reminds me of a pack of ice fishing shanties.
Greenwood’s 1827 map of London has been a big asset to me, both as a read and a writer. Click on any part of it to zoom in, then click again to zoom in further.
Here’s a beautiful website dedicated to the 95th Rifles, formed in 1803 as the first regiment to use rifles instead of the less accurate muskets. They saw a lot of action during the Peninsular/Napoleonic Wars.
Regency Romance novelist Candice Hern has compiled a wonderful timeline running from 1788 through 1820 that gives more detail than the one listed in the Wikipedia article. Political events, literary milestones, musical accomplishments, theater history, and social developments of the extended Regency can be found here in chronological order, color coded by category.
This is a nice article by Michelle Jean Hoppe that talks about the London Season. I like it because it’s not too long, but it’s well written and gives you enough detail to be worth reading.
These are just a few of the websites I’ve frequented. What other good websites are out there for the Regency period? What are your favorites?
And Then She Kissed Him 