But before Zagat and the Michelin star, there was Ralph Rylance (1782–1834) and The Epicure’s Almanack, or Guide to Good Living, his listing of more than 650 eating establishments, taverns, inns, and hotels in and around London in the early nineteenth century. Working single-handedly and on foot, Rylance investigated and reported on a broad range of restaurants, from haughty chophouses and suburban tea gardens to humble tripe shops and dockyard taverns, as well as London’s first Indian restaurant. He also gives an account of London’s markets, featuring an inventory of merchants selling everything from anchovy sauce to kitchen stoves.Published in 1815, The Epicure’s Almanack was never updated or reprinted and was never truly emulated until 1968, when the Good Food Guide to London was first issued. Reproduced here with an introduction by Janet Ing Freeman, and accompanied by extensive notes, indexes, and many details from a contemporary map of London, this extraordinary edition vividly brings back to life the tastes, smells, and culture of Regency England and is a must-read for lovers of London and food alike.

    Marston. The text includes numerous eye-witness accounts of the action, accompanied by explanatory maps.Gniesenau was one of the prime architects of the Prussian military reforms 1806-1811. He was made Blucher's chief of staff from 1813 through the Waterloo campaign. Not only the most important life of Blucher, but one of our most valuable primary sources for the latter portion of the Napoleonic Wars.

    Penrose narrates the adventures of a British youth who flees an unhappy home life to seek his fortune on the high seas. Having learned the sailor's trade, Penrose survives a series of nautical mishaps, only to be cast adrift on the Mosquito Coast. When rescue finally comes, Penrose refuses to abandon the new home he has made among the Indians. Equal parts travel narrative, adventure tale, and natural history, the novel reflects on some of the most pressing moral and social issues of its time: imperialism, racial equality, religious freedom, and the nature of ethical, responsible government. Mr. Penrose contains the first unequivocal critique of slavery in a transatlantic novel and the most realistic portrayals of Native Americans in early American fiction. In the afterword to this paperback edition, Sarah Wadsworth imparts new research on the author and his career, shedding light on the novel's subjects and timely themes, and situating Mr. Penrose at the forefront of the American literary canon.