Jane Austen's England
Jane Austen's Englandis not a guidebook; instead, Maggie Lane explores Austen's encounters with Britain's countryside and towns, from her home in north Hampshire to Oxford to Portsmouth. Lane records Austen's journeys and stays--quoting extensively from her letters and novels--but her book is also an activist manifesto. Writing of how much Britain has changed since the age of Austen, she urges, "We must be more vigilant over what remains." Through poems, prints, and paintings of the period, Lane evokes England's natural and man-made beauties--though always in service of a larger aim--setting the stage for Austen's life and art.