I really enjoy histories which show how ordinary people lived but found this book rather disappointing - the tone just felt a bit flippant to me.

Received an arc from Netgalley to review.


A great introduction to the Georgian age. I really like the format of the book, which provides a short and interesting look into lives of people in that era.


Overall, a fun and entertaining book.

A rich and vivid history of the Georgians. Incredibly readable and a really fun book that is accessible to all interested or new to nonfiction

Robert Peal's Meet the Georgian is an entertaining introduction to the Georgian world through some personalities who defined this age. Some are more well-known than others, but all their stories are fascinating. I particularly liked the tone of this book. It was light-hearted, making the book an enjoyable read.

This seemed less of a book and more of a chat with a clever and learned friend. The style of the book is friendly and gives the tiny details to help you be immersed in the tale. The 12 characters covered are all totally different, some better known than others, but always something to learn about each that is new, different or just a bit odd. It’s hard to have a favourite but Lady Hester Stanhope must be right up there.

This is a good collection of stories of those who lived the extraordinary life during the period. I enjoyed learning the age through the lives of people.
I don't know many things about this period but it was an interesting and easy read.

Oh what a lovely book this is. A history book like no history book ever used in schools which is a pity because I feel that a lot more people would have an interest in our history if their textbooks had been half as engaging as Meet the Georgians.

I found it totally fascinating to discover that there was an enormous amount to be learnt about so many figures in history that never made it across the classroom from teacher to student. Mentioning just one, James Watt. Whilst many will be aware of a connection between him and the steam engine, it is only after reading this book that I am aware of how much of an effect he has had on the world from then until now and beyond. No more clues from me, just a strong suggestion that you read the whole book for yourself, you will not be disappointed.

This was a fascinating and engaging book. Peal does an excellent job of bringing this period to life, and what particularly stood out for me was not just the accessibility of the text, but the fact that it did not just focus on the more well-known people and aspects of the Georgian period, but branched out and brought to life lesser known stories. There's also the fact that this book didn't just focus on the period, but rather the lives lived at that time, and it made for compelling reading because there is something delightful about getting to follow the people rather than society as a whole, especially when it was paired with Peal's light-hearted tone, humour and easy writing approach.

I absolutely loved this delight of a book. I love Georgette Heyer's novels, that are set in the Georgian Era, and it's a historical period I really like-I've read , and loved, both Holmes' 'Age of wonder' and Robert Morrison's 'The Regency years' , and I was wondering if Peal would cover familiar ground. I needn't have, Peal's book has a totally fresh take on it, and owes more to Horrible Histories than to academia. attempts to show you the breadth of Georgian life through the lives of 12 Eminent Georgians'. None of the usual suspects, though: this was a period when Empire was expanding and so was the slave trade, shown through the lives of Tipu Sultan and Olaudah Equiano. The chapter on TIpu Sultan is so evocative, he plunges you into the state and the palaces, and the battles. THere's a fun chapter on pirates, told through the lives of 2 female pirates, that's much better than the Pirates of The Caribbean movies from the 2nd one onwards, combined! It was also a time when access to education increased, and the British Patent Law encouraged innovation, a factor that contributed to James Watt's life, in one of the best chapters in the book. There was political instability and the danger to succession, illustrated through the deeply stirring and moving chapter on the Battle of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie's hubris, and John WIlkes' life, a champion of holding politicians accountable. The ideas of marrying for love, and choosing your partner were slightly more accepted, and personified by the Ladies of Llangolen-it's lovely to get more detail on their pioneering lives-alternate sexualities aren't a new idea, and it's nice to see them being acknowledged in history. Peal traces the developments in the era through their lives, and ends aptly with the Industrial Revolution, all its upheavals,and the VIctorian Age around the corner. He ends it saying to know more about them, we'll have to read' Meet the Victorians', and I wish he would hurry up and write that as soon as possible!

This is an interesting book about an interesting period in our history, I had not before reading this book realised that our current lifestyle choices were similar, so very thought provoking. I have a personal interest in this era having grown up in a draughty and in severe need of repair, georgian merchant’s house in a listed georgian area. This book is one that personally I would probably buy as a hardback at a later date because it needs dipping into now and again rather than being read all at one time, a reference style/ coffee table use.

The Georgian era lasted over 100 years and was seen as a time of indulgence and conquest. Sandwiched between the seventeenth century and the concerns about the Stuart dynasty and the more straight-laced Victorians, the Georgians seemed to be all about pleasure. In this book Peal writes potted biographies of 12 notables and uses them to illustrate the trends and views over time. In the main I enjoyed this book, the biographies were short and entertaining. However I was irritated by Peal's use of modern idiom eg. calling an attractive woman a 'honey', in addition the choice of subjects seemed more than a little driven by the mores of now - a woke selection encompassing gender, race and LGBTQ+.

A fantastically entertaining and informative history book that is easy to read even if you are not a big non-fiction reader! I really enjoyed the glimpses into the daily life of the Georgians and a lot of interesting snippets that I can now share with people! A great read.

This was an interesting and very readable history of Georgian Britain. It's mainly twelve pitted biographies of people who had an impact on their times including Mary Anning, Mary Woolstonecraft, Lord Byron, Anne Bonney (a pirate; I'd not heard of her), Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Olaudah Equiano (a freed slave who wrote one of the first slave narratives and was a key figure in the abolitionist movement). Each chapter gives a good overview and there were quite a few I would like to read more about. The author makes the period sound like some fun times, though of course not everyone lived so freely, much like not everyone was swinging in the sixties, a period he likens these times to. Excellent for a basic understanding.

*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*

This book provides the reader with a nice and short glimpse at some of the more famous or infamous Georgians who left their mark on a rather interesting period in British history.
The writing style is entertaining, the personalities are well portrayed. I would have also liked to see an average, non-famous person from that period in this book as well in order to represent ordinary people whose names are long forgotten.
Readers that already are very familiar with the Georgian period will probably meet some old acquaintances in this book, but for those who don't know many names beyond Jane Austen will find some inspiration to dig deeper into the lives of these interesting historical figures.

"Meet the Georgians" was such a fun read. I loved the humor and the mini-biographies were really interesting.

I would definitely read something similar for other epochs.

This is a non-fiction historical account of the Georgian era of English history, 1714 - 1830 which covers the Hanoverian kings, George I, George II, George III and George IV. It was apparently a wild time among the nobility and such historic figures as Lord Byron and the pirate women, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, come from this era.

I love the tone of the book. It reminds me of the brutal honesty of the Horrible Histories books, but doesn't have to pull punches on sex or violence as it's written for adult readers. This book tells it like it was with no whitewashing.

The chapters cover specific historical characters whose notable excesses capture the imagination, starting with the above mentioned pirate women, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. This is followed by a chapter on Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose history I knew little about and mostly only from movies. It seems the real history is far less romantic, yet very illustrative of the bold adventures of the time.

John Wilkes follows, whom I knew nothing about save for his namesake, John Wilkes Booth. The original John Wilkes is a far more colourful character and and very significant to English history, as he got the common citizen the vote!

Next up is Tipu Sultan, an Indian ruler who along with his father kept the British Empire at Bay. This is largely a military history, but he took on the East India Company and kept them off for three decades, which is truely impressive when you see what else was going on. The more I read of the East India Company history in China and India, the more I appreciate the cost of Empire and what my country's history has to be ashamed of.

Speaking of which, an ex-slave features in the next chapter, Olaudah Equiano. I'd never heard his name before reading this. He disappeared from history for about fifty years but then was rediscovered as he published books about his experiences. It's an inspiring story to say the least.

While some of his life was typical for an African slave of the time, his particular path opened opportunities for education and becoming a seafarer. Sold into slavery twice, he wrote a book to bring some of his more horrendous experiences and those of other slaves to the attention of the British public and politicians who had been turning a blind eye to the human reality behind the commerce.

Another figure to make waves in the status quo of the era follows, Mary Wollstonecraft who brought us women's rights. Then we learn about The Ladies of Llangollen who defied convention to live together in Wales, possibly as the first openly lesbian couple in Britain.

Keeping the unconventional girl power going we next learn about Lady Hamilton, who defied the unwritten rule of the era that whatever clss you're born into, you stay in. She slept with all the right people and became a darling of the nobility, eventually marrying a title, then fell from grace after her husband's death as the jealous enemies she had accrued pushed her off the cliff.

Hester Stanhope follows with her escape from the restrictions of the nobility in England to become a European curiosity in the East, settling in Syria and dressing like a man. Her exploits make for a great read, especially when you know the usual restrictions on women of the era in all the countries she lived in.

At last we come to Lord Byron, perhaps the best known of the unconventional characters of the Georgian era, characterised as "Mad, bad and dangerous to know. A few surprises in that chapter but definitely someone I wouldn't have liked. Next up we have Mary Anning, whom I hadn't heard of before but should have, considering her contributions to science. She played a major role in discovering large fossils in the cliffs of Lyme Regis, yet had credit stolen by the men who bought them from her. Typical.

James Watt comes last. His name really should be known by all Steampunk fans as he brought us steam power! He didn't invent steam technology, but he made it work efficiently and was an engineering genius. His story is beyond interesting, though it's sort of his fault that the planet is dying as a result of industrialisation.

We wrap up with some history about the end of the era and the transition to the very different Victorian era. King George IV coloured his reign with his own excesses, only to end up with a religious backlash that affects us still today. The book is a fascinating look at this part of history in ways that school wouldn't cover and it makes for a very informative and enjoyable read.

Despite an interest in history, this is a time period that I know very little about. Peal presents the lives of 12 significant figures from the Georgian Era, giving details of the lesser known and accurate depictions of names that we live in on infamy today. The live of pirates, royalty, politicians, writers and many other scandalous figures from the years between 1714 and 1830 are presented in clear detail. Peal is informative and gives lesson in history in an accessible and amusing way. Fun and informative - thoroughly enjoyed!

Meet the Georgians; Epic Tales from Britain’s Wildest Century by Robert Peal is an entertaining read, with stories of Georgian individuals such as the two women pirates.  

This is a good book for setting the scene of the Georgian period, explaining why these characters are larger than life, and giving context for why the strait laced Victorian period follows the larger than life Georgian period!

 Meet the Georgians  was published on 8th July 2021 and is available from  Amazon ,  Waterstones  and  Bookshop.org .

You can follow Robert Peal on  Twitter  and his  website .

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to  William Collins .

A fascinating book full of humour and historical facts put into a very readable book. The book uses 12 distictly different characters to demonstrae what the basis of life was like in the Georgian Society. It describes clearly the different lives of the rich and the poor.
This was aninteresting period and a complete contrast to the Victorian period that followed. The idea that perhaps we had reverted somewhat to the pleasurable height of Georgian Society morality and that the views expressed very clearly in 1826 in the magazine The English Spy are relevant even more so today. In this Mr Marigold writes the following:
"Give me the society where I can eat, drink, laugh, joke and smoke as I like without being obliged to watch every word and action, as if my tongue was a traitor to my head and my stomach a tyrant of self destruction."
The write ends by inferring that his next book will be 'meet the Victorians'may it come very soon as I canno wait to read it.

I think if you don’t know anything about the Georgians, this would be a good introduction to some of the characters in it – and also to the idea that the Victorians were the prudish ones and that life before that was much more interesting/racy! For me (degree in history in which I mostly did post 1700 stuff in Britain, France and wider Europe) there wasn’t a lot new here. But that said: I like the idea, and the choices of who to feature are good because the people are fascinating, but the writing style is strangely uneven – at times it feels like the author is wants to emulate Greg Jenner‘s chatty informal style but is trying to hard and it’s only in patches before it reverts to something more standard for a history book. It’s still very accessibly written in the rest of it, but it has these weird bits where it all sounds a bit “how do you do fellow kids”. For me, the introduction also spoilt a bit of the fun/mystery of finding out who the people were – a lot of the key details were in there. Thinking about it, it’s a bit like a history essay in book form: here is my theory, here is the evidence for my theory, here is my conclusion with a reminder of my theory and a look ahead. Additionally the cover is a bit out of step with the audience I feel like it’s trying for. Great idea and if you’re a newbie to the era, it will probably work better for you than it did for me!