Daily Life in : England in the Reign of George III

London: George Allen & Unwin. Very Good/Good. 1969. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo 0049420771 Dust jacket some loss to edges, closed tears. Original cloth with bright gilt titling on spine. Previous owner's book plate on frontis. Frontis plate. 207 pages clean and tight. This picture of daily life in England, painted by Andre Parreaux, depicts the period between 1760 and 1810, from the accession of George III until, showing signs of definite and permanent insanity, he was forced to concede the regency to his son. The beginning of the reign was marked by the end of the Seven Years' War, a war which added Canada and part of Louisiana to the British possessions, wi ich were soon to be robbed of the `thirteen colonies' by the war of American Independence. Then, for more than twenty years, apart from the truce of the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the French wars raged through Europe. In this tense atmosphere English life changed in the space of forty years more than it had done in two centuries. The small farmer with his precarious living was replaced by the big landowner. In the new industrial centres of Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, James Watt reigned more surely than any mad king. The artisan stepped aside for the workman. Salaries rose. London expanded towards the North and the West, but in the centre there was still a confusion of colourful stalls and noisy taverns, of young girls, thieves and beggars - a world of which Dickens was to become one of the last witnesses. In the town as in the country people drank and danced and fought against their liver complaints. Puritanism became less rigid and the Anglican Church saw the birth of a score of dissident sects. The middle class held sway on the Exchange and grew in power. The way was open for the reign of Queen Victoria. Having been written by a Frenchman, quoting quite often from contemporary French documents, this book brings a specially original touch to an always lively subject. .