A kaleidoscopic picture of British society in the year of the battle of Waterloo, evoking the sights, sounds, and smells of a defining moment in modern British history

1815 was the year of Waterloo, the British victory that ended Napoleon's European ambitions and ushered in a century largely of peace for Britain. But what sort of country were Wellington's troops fighting for? And what kind of society did they return to? Stephen Bates paints a vivid portrait of every aspect of Britain in 1815. Overseas, the bounds of Empire were expanding; at home, the Thames froze over, and the population endured the chill of economic recession. As Jane Austen busied herself with the writing of Emma, John Nash designed Regent Street, Humphrey Davy patented his safety lamp for miners, and Lord's cricket ground held its first match in St John's Wood, a nervous government infiltrated dissident political movements and resorted to repressive legislation to curb free speech. This book offers a richly engrossing picture of a year that resonates to a surprising degree with the Britain of today.