author
R. H. (Rees Howell) Gronow
1794–1865
A soldier, clubman, and sharp-eyed observer of Regency society, he turned a life of campaigning and high society into lively memoirs that still feel close to the scene. His recollections are prized for their wit, detail, and firsthand glimpse of Waterloo-era Britain and France.
1 Audiobook
Reminiscences of Captain Gronow
by R. H. (Rees Howell) Gronow
About the author
Born in 1794 in Glamorganshire, Wales, Rees Howell Gronow was educated at Eton and went on to serve as an officer in the Grenadier Guards. He fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo, experiences that later gave his writing much of its immediacy and color.
After his army years, he moved through fashionable London and Paris society and was widely known as "Captain Gronow." He also sat briefly in Parliament for Stafford, though he is remembered far more for his social observation than for politics.
Gronow's lasting reputation rests on his reminiscences, published in several volumes in the 1860s. In them he mixed military memories with anecdotes of courts, clubs, and well-known figures of his day, creating memoirs that remain valued as entertaining snapshots of Regency life.