Jane Austen is one of Britain’s best loved authors. Her books sell worldwide in vast numbers, while movie and television adaptations are regularly among the most watched dramas around.
Within her books, Austen includes several characters who are (or have) been in the military. This is not surprising as through most of her writing career Britain was locked in a titanic struggle against Napoleonic France in which battles such as Trafalgar and Waterloo were fought. But what does she tell us about the military of her time, and how accurate are her accounts?
It is well known that Austen was meticulous in her attention to detail - and also that she could make mistakes. In Emma, she famously has her characters picking strawberries when they were not in season. So what about the military? Does Jane Austen get the details correct, or not? Are there military mistakes to be found, or did her knowledge of the army and navy prove to be exact?
In this book we look at what Jane Austen tells us about the careers of her key military men, and analyse them to reveal the facts, errors and misunderstandings that Jane Austen makes.
Characters to be touched upon include: George Wickham (Pride & Prejudice); Colonel Brandon (Sense & Sensibility); Mr Weston (Emma); William Price (Mansfield Park); Mr Price, snr (Mansfield Park); Frederick Wentwork (Persuasion); Admiral Croft (Persuasion); James Benwick (Persuasion).