{"title":"Books by Rory Muir","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780300082708","title":"Tactics and the Experience of Battle in the Age of Napoleon","description":"What was it like to be a soldier on a Napoleonic battlefield? What happened when cavalry regiments charged directly at one another? What did the generals do during battle? Drawing on memoirs, diaries, and letters of the time, this dramatic book explores what actually happened in battle and how the participants’ feelings and reactions influenced the outcome. Rory Muir focuses on the dynamics of combat in the age of Napoleon, enhancing his analysis with vivid accounts of those who were there—the frightened foot soldier, the general in command, the young cavalry officer whose boils made it impossible to ride, and the smartly dressed aide-de-camp, tripped up by his voluminous pantaloons. This book sheds new light on how military tactics worked by concentrating on the experience of soldiers in the firing line. Muir considers the interaction of artillery, infantry, and cavalry; the role of the general, subordinate commanders, staff officers, and aides; morale, esprit de corps, and the role of regimental officers; soldiers’ attitudes toward death and feelings about the enemy; the plight of the wounded; the difficulty of surrendering; and the way victories were finally decided. He discusses the mechanics of musketry, artillery, and cavalry charges and shows how they influenced the morale, discipline, and resolution of the opposing armies. This is a volume that will fascinate all readers with an interest in military history, European history, or the psychology of combat.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232092795253,"sku":"9780300082708","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300082708_51edc147-c707-4869-aba6-f23dbc00238e.jpg?v=1786012601"},{"product_id":"9780300281071","title":"Love and Marriage in the Age of Jane Austen","description":"“Muir’s well-informed, entertaining book surveys romantic love and marriage among the real-life counterparts of Austen’s characters in an England threatened with invasion and agitated by calls for political reform.”—Jenny McAuley, Financial Times “Digs wide and deep into the historical record to provide a documentary account of what falling in love and living happily ever after really involved in late Georgian England.”—Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times What happened when Jane Austen’s heroines and heroes were finally wed?   Marriage is at the centre of Jane Austen’s novels. The pursuit of husbands and wives, advantageous matches, and, of course, love itself, motivate her characters and continue to fascinate readers today. But what were love and marriage like in reality for ladies and gentlemen in Regency England?   Rory Muir uncovers the excitements and disappointments of courtship and the pains and pleasures of marriage, drawing on fascinating first-hand accounts as well as novels of the period. From the glamour of the ballroom to the pressures of careers, children, managing money, and difficult in-laws, love and marriage came in many guises: some wed happily, some dared to elope, and other relationships ended with acrimony, adultery, domestic abuse, or divorce. Muir illuminates the position of both men and women in marriage, as well as those spinsters and bachelors who chose not to marry at all.      This is a richly textured account of how love and marriage felt for people at the time—revealing their unspoken assumptions, fears, pleasures, and delights.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56232481948021,"sku":"9780300281071","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300281071_5762b481-3659-4524-bb62-f55b716e920e.jpg?v=1786012140"},{"product_id":"9780300232820","title":"Wellington – Waterloo and the Fortunes of Peace 1814–1852","description":"From the leading Wellington historian, a fascinating reassessment of the Duke’s most famous victory and his role in the turbulent politics after Waterloo Wellington’s momentous victory over Napoleon was the culminating point of a brilliant military career. Yet Wellington’s achievements were far from over: he commanded the allied army of occupation in France to the end of 1818, returned home to a seat in Lord Liverpool’s cabinet, and became prime minister in 1828. He later served as a senior minister in Peel’s government and remained Commander-in-Chief of the Army for a decade until his death in 1852.      In this richly detailed work, the second and concluding volume of Rory Muir’s definitive biography, the author offers a substantial reassessment of Wellington’s significance as a politician and a nuanced view of the private man behind the legend of the selfless hero. Muir presents new insights into Wellington’s determination to keep peace at home and abroad, achieved by maintaining good relations with the Continental powers and resisting radical agitation while granting political equality to the Catholics in Ireland rather than risk civil war. And countering one-dimensional pictures of Wellington as a national hero, Muir paints a portrait of a well-rounded man whose austere demeanor on the public stage belied his entertaining, gossipy, generous, and unpretentious private self.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56233278505333,"sku":"9780300232820","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300232820_646bf5d7-950a-4730-b2a8-e61a1346b497.jpg?v=1786012218"},{"product_id":"9780300273311","title":"Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune – How Younger Sons Made Their Way in Jane Austen`s England","description":"A portrait of Jane Austen’s England told through the career paths of younger sons—men of good family but small fortune   In Regency England the eldest son usually inherited almost everything while his younger brothers, left with little inheritance, had to make a crucial decision: What should they do to make an independent living? Rory Muir weaves together the stories of many obscure and well-known young men, shedding light on an overlooked aspect of Regency society. This is the first scholarly yet accessible exploration of the lifestyle and prospects of these younger sons.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311683318133,"sku":"9780300273311","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780300273311_1a12d98b-39c7-4f88-a30b-9993ee38d673.jpg?v=1786012754"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-rory-muir.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}