MrsM and her best buds HelenandCaroline are having a Christmas outing and as a concession to the Spirit of the Season have invited their Spouses. It is an exceedingly jolly occasion and while the Spouses are reviewing the cheese trolley Caroline explains that she has booked the Gardener's Cottage at Hougoumont for a short holiday. MrM is very envious and launches into an analysis of the strategic implications of the Gardener's Cottage in the Battle of Waterloo with MrCaroline who is an enthusiastic military historian. MrsM nonchalantly mentions that she has just walked past the East India Club in St James's Square where Major Henry Percy, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, presented the Prince Regent with four captured French eagles and Wellington’s victory despatch. Helen is quite impressed and gasps "Alice! How do you know these things?" MrsM blushes and is forced to admit that she read all about it in "A Civil Contract", a Regency Romance by Georgette Heyer.
I'm grateful to many a novel's plot device and the author's end notes for knowledge of all sorts of historical events. In the best cases this inspires a bit of additional internet research that I'm pleased to exhibit during TV quizzes (especially University Challenge!).
ReplyDeleteI was a voracious reader of historical fiction as a child and it was the foundation for much of my knowledge of English history.
DeleteIt is still knowledge, wherever you came by it. I have gained quite a lot of information from listening to Alan Bennett's diaries on CD.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should move upmarket from Georgette Heyer to Alan Bennett.
Deletefour eagles?
ReplyDeleteThe birds or something I am utterly missing?
These were the Napoleonic army standards captured at Waterloo. I love the image of the carriage careering up Pall Mall, surrounded by cheering crowds, with the golden Eagles on their poles sticking out of the window.
DeleteGosh, I am impressed! I am rereading the delightful Miss Heyer after a long absence, Amazon are kindly popping them on Kindle very inexpensively. I had forgotten just how much historical knowledge can be had from her books along with much amusement.
ReplyDeleteMissM introduced me to Georgette Heyer and it has been a happy acquaintance. I started with the most famous such as 'The Grand Sophy' but am now enjoying the later novels including 'A Civil Contract' which I think demonstrates a very subtle understanding of relationships.
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