…So wrote Jane Austen to her sister Cassandra while Jane was visiting their brother Edward.
These days it is a rare person who is not thinking of economizing (“Can we retrench?”) so naturally this last month I purchased more books…..
In case you are shaking your heads in dismay right now, I must say in my defense that my son took me to a book fair where I found about seven books in seven minutes. This after a long discussion with my husband about how we must watch our pennies (Retrench!). I saved lots of pennies! The books were dirt cheap!
Then there were others I simply HAD to have. A book on the battle of Badajoz, for example, which figures in my next book. And, of course, Todd mentioned reading a book about Dukes so I had to have that one, too.
Here are my Book Fair finds: 
The Mammoth Book of Soldiers at War: Firsthand Accounts of Warfare from the Age of Napoleon, Jon E. Lewis, ed. $3.50
The War of Wars: The Great European Conflict 1793-1815, by Robert Harvey $7.50
No Ordinary General: Lt. General Sir Henry Bunbury (1778-1860) The Best Soldier Historian, by Desmond Gregory $4.00
Though the Heavena May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led to the End of Human Slavery by Steven M. Wise $6.00
Sir Robert Walpole’s Poet: The Use of Literature as Pro-Government Propaganda, 1721-1742, by Tone Sundt Urstad $5.00
Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire, by Roy Moxham $5.00
The Making of Victorian Values: Decency & Dissent in Britain: 1789-1837, by Ben Wilson (I almost purchased this one full-price of $27.95 a year ago) $7.00
National Geographic Traveler: Great Britain $6.50
The Other Books:
Amazing Grace: The Great Days of Dukes, by ES Turner (the book Todd made me buy)
A Mad, Bad & Dangerous People: England 1783-1846, by Boyd Hilton
Chivalry & Command: 500 Years of Horse Guards, by Brian Harwood
Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and The Congress of Vienna, by Adam Zamoyski
Dancing into Battle: A Social History of the Battle of Waterloo, by Nick Foulkes
Badajoz 1812: Wellington’s Bloodiest Siege, by Ian Fletcher
These I bought earlier this summer:
The Battle: A New History of Waterloo, by Alessandro Barbero (Translated by John Cullen)
1815: An End and A Beginning, by John Fisher
This was a gift:
Regency Recollections: Captain Gronow’s Guide to Life in London and Paris, Christopher Summerville, ed.
Last but not least:
From Australia, a trilogy: Innocence and Impropriety, The Vanishing Viscountess, and Scandalising the Ton, by Diane Gaston, Harlequin Australia.
Get a load of the nice medieval cover…..
What ‘s the best book buy you’ve made lately?
AND EVERYONE IN THE USA, TOMORROW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!
