The Georgian Gentleman

by Michael Brander

The Making of THE GEORGIAN GENTLEMAN Michael Brander penetrates the much romanticised era of the Georgian Gentleman showing how he really lived. It was a time of peaceful agricultural growth at home and of lengthy wars abroad, the start of an overseas Empire as British merchants seized commercial opportunities backed by naval supremacy. It was a period of balls and masques, of refinement, grace, moderation and scholarship, of drunkenness, gaming, duelling and folly, of strong odours, flickering candlelight, dirt and disease. It saw the development of the canal system and of regular stage coach services with steadily improving high roads resulting in faster and more reliable communication, while a network of small ports and harbours round the coast plied a busy, sometimes illicit, trade. Steam power and the first railways heralded the end of the period. The reality of the life of a gentleman of the day is shown, often in his own vivid phraseology, depicting his childhood, his education