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by Lauren Gilbert On my first trip to England, one of the first things I wanted to try was Indian food, particularly curry.   I used to think that trying spicy food from other places was a modern taste, and it was not a concept that I associated with typical English cuisine of Jane Austen’s time.   However, history proves me wrong.   Cookbooks and recipes from the 18 th and 19 th centuries show that flavorful food was important, and herbs and seasonings were as important to cooks then as they are today.   Trade and colonies yielded new seasonings and tastes.    Travellers and immigrants had brought different seasonings and dishes into England, as did returning soldiers, sailors and traders.   Spices, especially pepper, at different times were an exchange item, valued as money.   Clearly, strong, distinct, spicy flavors had been incorporated into the culinary landscape, and hot seasoning was a part of that.   I had intended to present a broa...

Vivian Roycroft is giving away a copy of her novel, A Different Sort of Perfect. You can read about the book HERE . You will be prompted to return to this post to enter by commenting below. Please be sure to leave your contact information.

For aspiring authors, nothing much has changed, by Diane Scott Lewis Firstly, the Georgian author would struggle to find a publisher. Aspiring authors sought these prestigious men—for you’d be hard-pressed to find a lowly woman with their feeble brains in this profession—at the many booksellers’ shops that huddled in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. They would cart their precious manuscript to the Chapter Coffee House in Paternoster Row, where several stationers, booksellers and printers conducted their business. If you lived in the provinces, too far from London, you had to use the postal service. The author would choose a bookseller, often after local advice, whose imprint he’d seen in newspaper advertisements or on a book’s title page.  In 1759, Laurence Sterne, an obscure cleric in York, sent his unsolicited manuscript of Tristram Shandy to Robert Dodsley on the recommendation of John Hinxman, a York bookseller.Sterne’s accompanying letter assured the publisher tha...

by Anne O'Brien Red, the colour of festivity and enjoyment, the colour of youth and beauty.  Of seduction.  The colour of sin ... Red is not a colour I ever wear, but I can see its attraction, and it was highly popular with women in the Middle Ages. Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales tells of the Wife of Bath, an energetic and dominant woman said to be based on Alice Perrers, although she had five husbands, unlike Alice. The Wife tells the tale in her Prologue of her life with her fifth husband.  And most notably the impact of her Red Dress. Here she goes: My fifth and last - God keep his soul in health! The one I took for love and not for wealth, Had been at Oxford not so long before but had left school and gone to lodge next door. Yes, it was to my godmother's he'd gone, God bless her soul!  Her name was Alison. She knew my heart and more of what I thought Than did the parish priest, and so she ought! Does this suggest that her fifth husband was a much youn...

That is a question all authors of historical fiction face when choosing a time period or incident to write about.  Yes, the answer can vary, but so can the results and repercussions of the choice. Generally, historical fiction can be broken down into 4 categories of choice regarding the amount of fiction involved. These run the gambit: history light, history interwoven, re-imagined and based upon a true story . History light and history interwoven are perhaps the two easiest to distinguish. History light would include the old Harlequin or Silhouette romances along with paranormal, where history is just a flavoring to the story and not essential. History interwoven are stories when the characters seamlessly interact with the real people and society of the time.  The more tricky categories are the last two: re-imagined and based upon a true story .  Don’t confuse the two as being interrelated, because that isn’t necessarily the case. Re-imagined or alternative takes ...

This story, like so much of English history, begins with a love affair and ends on the chopping block. The love affair began in Holland, in 1648, where the eighteen year old Charles, Prince of Wales, was anxiously awaiting news of the trial for treason of his father, King Charles 1. The young prince, seeking a diversion from these grim matters, met a pretty girl from Wales, Lucy Walter. Like teenagers everywhere, they fell in love, with predictable results. On 9th April 1649, Lucy produced a son, whom they christened James. By then, Lucy’s prince had become a king. King Charles 1 had been executed three months before, so the baby’s father was now King Charles II – although still exiled from his kingdom. Charles liked the baby, but his love for Lucy did not last. There were plenty of other girls in Holland, after all, and he was a young king with time on his hands. Lucy died in 1658, not particularly mourned by Charles. But he was fond of young James, whom he openly acknowledged as hi...

Battle of Hastings From the eleventh century on, writers have disagreed as to what actually happened at The Battle of Hastings. The earliest contemporary account of the battle is the Carmen de Hastingae Proelio , attributed to Guy of Amiens.  The Carmen  was known in the Middle Ages, disappeared and was recovered in the Bibliotheque de Bologne in 1838. Edwin Tetlow, writing on the subject of The Battle, called Hastings an enigma writing, 'The story is befogged by legend, lie and propaganda  aspects, by lack of acceptable evidence'. Recently there has been disagreement as to its actual location.  As for The Carmen historians think it was written before 1070. It was written in Latin at St Riquer in Ponthieu, which was one of the centres of the Carolingian Renaissance in the ninth century and one can assume that the poet is influenced by earlier Carolingian poets. Therefore the  Carmen is a celebratory poem set down to praise Duke Will...

by J.A. Beard Often when thinking about the late Georgian Era and the Regency Period, it’s easy to fixate on the many cultural and political changes that occurred. Controversial and charismatic men like Lord Byron challenged social mores , and decades of war, in the form of the Napoleonic Wars, presented an ever-present additional stress to a country that was already undergoing rapid change due to industrialization partially facilitated by many other legal and social changes, such as land reform. Sometimes lost in discussions of aspects of the period such as industrialization is that the late Georgian Era was also a time of impressive scientific progress. It is easy, in the light of modern genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and control of nuclear power to be dismissive of the achievements of these “natural philosophers” who set the stage for the massive advances in science and technology that define the modern human condition. Today, I will spotlight one of these pioneers: Sir Hump...

By Maria Grace I am captivated by language and how it relates to a culture. With three teen aged sons living at home I get to hear a lot of the slang they encounter.  I never cease to be fascinated by the terms that come up, and how often I haven't a clue what they are referr ing to . Since every era has its own unique slang, I thought it would be interesting to share some Regency era slang from time to time.  Today 's offering relates to soldiers. Francis Grose, author of Dictionary of he Vulgar Tongue Regency slang terms for soldiers: Bad bargain: a worthless soldier. Usage: One of his majesty's bad bargains Bloody Back : A jeering name for a soldier, for his scarlet coat. Brothers of the blade : A soldier Fogey or Old Fogey : A nickname for an invalid soldier. Galloot: a Soldier Foot wabbler: A contemptuous name for a foot soldier, commonly used by the cavalry. Light bob : A soldier of the light infantry company. Lobster : A nickname for a soldier, from the colo...