The Jane Austen Handbook

About 200 years have passed since Jane Austen assumed that you, Gentle Reader, knew the difference between a barouche and a phaeton, or why a gentleman never lets go of his hat when paying a morning call. This entertaining and informative book unlocks the mysteries of life among early 19th-century British landed gentry, and helps you understand what Austen?s first readers already knew. You?ll master the intricacies of dressing, attending balls, managing a large country house, throwing dinner parties, ?making love? as it was understood then, and much more. Includes an Austen biography, summaries of her novels, and glossary. Hardcover; 244 pages, illustrated.