The 18th century is very interesting and very important, and English society during the period deserves a book of this nature by an expert on the topic.Kirstin Olsen is, unfortunately, not an expert on the 18th century nor on Great Britain.Olsen doesn't seem to have any sort of advanced degree or academic position, which would be fine if she was a serious independent scholar who had done some intense original research.She does not appear to have done any such research; what we have here is a book of paraphrases from secondary sources.One looks in vain in the footnotes for citations of actual 18th century books; it would appear that Olsen has not even read many very famous 18th century books, books that are readily available at any university library.When she quotes or paraphrases John Gay, Samuel Johnson or James Boswell, we look in the notes to find that her sources are not Gay's, Johnson's or Boswell's actual plays, books, letters or journals, but 20th century books that quote or paraphrase the original source.Olsen also credulously passes along the urban legend about "rule of thumb," which is just embarassing, and makes one question the veracity of the rest of her information.When Oslen gets away from her paraphrases and the lists she has lifted from other secondary sources her own original writing (showcased in the Acknowledgements and Introduction) is banal and solipsistic.She goes on at length about how "My life would have been vastly dissimilar from the one I've really led [had I been born in the 18th century,]" and brags that she can read Latin.Is anyone going to open this book because they want to learn about Kirstin Olsen's life?
An amateurish production, something an undergraduate could have put together, even one who can't read Latin.Sad.
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