Wynn Wheldon

The Georgians feel closer to us now than the Victorians

Graceful architecture, scientific innovation and the novels of Jane Austen are just part of the 18th century’s much-loved legacy, says Patricia J. Corfield

Beauty and innovation: Ralph Allen’s Prior Park, Bath, Somerset, begun in the 1730s, with gardens designed by Capability Brown. In the foreground is one of the earliest railways, transporting quarried Bath stone to the River Avon. (From a drawing by Anthony Walker, 1750). [Getty Images] 
issue 22 January 2022
  • Comments

  • The Georgians: The Deeds and Misdeeds of 18th-Century Britain

    Penelope J. Corfield

    Yale, pp. 486, £25

‘The two most fascinating subjects in the universe are sex and the 18th century,’ declared the novelist Brigid Brophy when the ban on Fanny Hill was lifted in 1963. Penelope Corfield’s big, handsome, enjoyable book goes a good way to illustrating Brophy’s assertion. Part source book, part interpretive history of the long 18th century (1688-1837), it is also a guide and gazetteer to the continuing presence of Georgian England in our towns and minds.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Read next

Trending

Julie Burchill

I’m finally out of hospital

From Spectator Life
Throughout my four months in hospitals, I dreamt above all of being home. This isn’t exceptional – it’s a very common desire – though I did meet one woman who complained that she’d find it too ‘quiet’ at home after the clatter of the ward. But for me the situation was extreme. I’m an only

More on architecture

Also by Wynn Wheldon

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in