The Regency Looking Glass

Have you ever enthusiastically embarked on something, only to realize later it wasn’t such a good idea? I know I have, which is why I’m thinking about Napoleon Bonaparte.  This March marks the two-hundred-year anniversary of Napoleon’s ill-fated attempt to reclaim his empire after being exiled to Elba. He escaped Elba and sailed to France, landing on the French coast on March 20, 2015. His next move was to head for the capital city, gathering troops still loyal to him on his way. Napoleon Returned from Elba, by Charles Auguste Guillaume Steuben    Though initially it looked like Napoleon might succeed (they loved him in Paris), it didn’t work out so well for him. About 100 days after his triumphant return he literally met his Waterloo and was defeated in the battle of the same name in Belgium. As a punishment for his presumption (and breaking the terms of his first exile) he was once again sent into exile - this time to St. Helena, a barren rock off the coast of Afri

The title page from the book's first edition in 1813 It’s been years – decades, really – since I’ve read Pride and Prejudice , and since I’m currently between books (I try to always have at least one on my nightstand for bedtime reading) I decided to pick it up again. And I'm glad I did. Over the years I’ve seen many TV and movie adaptations, especially the 1995 television mini-series featuring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth (who is still my favorite Mr. Darcy) and the 2005 movie starring Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen.   There have been even more television and movie productions of Jane Austen’s story that I haven’t seen, plus some I'm likely to skip, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a comedy/horror movie based on a book of the same name . This film is due to come out later this year and will star Lily James, better known as Lady Rose in Downton Abbey. I’m sure it will be a great production. I’ve just never been able to stomach zombies (