As a longtime fan of all things pertaining to the Regency, I expected much from this book and was pleasantly surprised when I got most of it. This is not a coffee table book with copious colored illustrations - there are a few line drawings but that is all - but it does give a fine verbal account of Regency England. The various chapters give a good insight into social classes and manners, the different spheres inhabited by men and women, sports and pastimes, costumes, vehicles, resorts, who’s who, popular writers and an appendix devoted to brief synopses of her novels. There is also a very useful cant glossary, a timeline of notable events, a useful map of the English counties and a bibliography, including a few websites. Throughout the book references are made to the novels, and the various things that happen in them, making it more than just another work of reference to the period. Open any page and you will get drawn in to finding out more about some fascinating aspect of this period. Reference books often aren’t thought of as being particularly readable, but I sat down and read this one. Useful for fans of Georgette Heyer, anybody researching a novel set during the Regency and any other interested parties, which would encompass quite a large number of people.