Prinny and His Pals

Prinny and His Pals PDF Author: Tom Ambrose
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN: 0720617936
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
From the first biography of George IV in 1831 to the last in 2001, Mad King George’s son has commonly been held up to ridicule as a weak, selfish, and incompetent spendthrift, barely tolerated by his ministers, loathed by most of his family, and dependent on the emotional support of grasping mistresses. However, acclaimed historian Tom Ambrose—author of Godfather of the Revolution: The Life of Phillipe Egalité, Duc D’Orléans—has uncovered new details on "Prinny" that suggests that, for all his faults, George IV just may have been the most humane and amusing of all British monarchs, notwithstanding his love of the high life. Central to the story is the vast array of friends that populate a remarkable reign as Prince Regent and King. If Prinny, as they knew him, was so grotesquely foolish, how did he amass such a fascinating (and loyal) group of friends? Could any other British ruler count among his friends the country’s most brilliant playwright (Richard Sheridan), or the wiliest statesman (Charles Fox), or the greatest political philosopher (Edmund Burke), not to mention perhaps the biggest loveable rogues’ gallery London ever saw? The truth was that Prinny’s occasional buffoonery and imposing girth made him the perfect target for political satirists and cartoonists—at their zenith during his reign—and his high qualities have been consistently overlooked. This warm, funny, and affectionate portrait displays George at his very best: delighting some of the finest minds of his generation, easily winning over his subjects and his family as well as treating his lovers with care and concern—and roistering with all his pals.

Prinny and His Pals

Prinny and His Pals PDF Author: Tom Ambrose
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN: 0720617936
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the first biography of George IV in 1831 to the last in 2001, Mad King George’s son has commonly been held up to ridicule as a weak, selfish, and incompetent spendthrift, barely tolerated by his ministers, loathed by most of his family, and dependent on the emotional support of grasping mistresses. However, acclaimed historian Tom Ambrose—author of Godfather of the Revolution: The Life of Phillipe Egalité, Duc D’Orléans—has uncovered new details on "Prinny" that suggests that, for all his faults, George IV just may have been the most humane and amusing of all British monarchs, notwithstanding his love of the high life. Central to the story is the vast array of friends that populate a remarkable reign as Prince Regent and King. If Prinny, as they knew him, was so grotesquely foolish, how did he amass such a fascinating (and loyal) group of friends? Could any other British ruler count among his friends the country’s most brilliant playwright (Richard Sheridan), or the wiliest statesman (Charles Fox), or the greatest political philosopher (Edmund Burke), not to mention perhaps the biggest loveable rogues’ gallery London ever saw? The truth was that Prinny’s occasional buffoonery and imposing girth made him the perfect target for political satirists and cartoonists—at their zenith during his reign—and his high qualities have been consistently overlooked. This warm, funny, and affectionate portrait displays George at his very best: delighting some of the finest minds of his generation, easily winning over his subjects and his family as well as treating his lovers with care and concern—and roistering with all his pals.

The House in Grosvenor Square

The House in Grosvenor Square PDF Author: Linore Rose Burkard
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 0736933581
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description
Readers who loved the author's first book, Before the Season Ends, will delight in this charming sequel set in Regency London. As Ariana Forsythe plans her wedding to Philip Mornay, she must adjust to the realization that she is soon to become the wife of an extremely wealthy man. She wonders if it's wrong to rejoice that her future husband is rich. But she promises herself to use her new position to do what she can to aid the numerous street waifs she sees all too often in London. During a tour of her future home—the house in Grosvenor Square—Ariana makes plans to redecorate according to her tastes. But when Philip arrives home later, he is informed that an expensive silver candlestick and a miniature portrait of George III have gone missing. Moreover, each time Ariana visits the house, accompanied by a friend or relation, another item disappears. Shortly thereafter Ariana is abducted as she leaves a performance at Covent Garden Theatre, leaving Philip to unravel the pieces of the mystery. Where has his future bride been taken, and by whom? For what reason? How does Ariana's faith play a role? Finally, after the safe return of his intended, how does Philip—a man of intense discrimination in his tastes—find the many alterations in his house? And what on earth is behind the sudden influx of bills from every charity in London, all thanking him profusely for his uncommon generosity? Will he have second thoughts about his future bride? Readers will find romance, intrigue, humor, and inspiration in this new book of spirited romance for the Jane Austen soul.

Godfather of the Revolution

Godfather of the Revolution PDF Author: Tom Ambrose
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN: 0720617839
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 287

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Book Description
While there are a great many books on Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the rest of the French Royal Family, the crucial role of the Duc d'Orleans—the man who bankrolled the French Revolution—has been inexplicably overlooked, and this is the first biography to appear in English for many years. This is despite the fact that he was the only member of a royal house ever to join a revolution against its monarchy and to vote for the judicial murder of the king. As well as bringing vividly to life the famous heroes and villains of the French Revolution, Tom Ambrose introduces the reader to a host of colorful and truly unforgettable characters, including Philippe's friend the Chevalier de Saint-George ("the Black Mozart") with whom he cofounded the first French anti-slavery society, the Duc's mistress Madame de Genlis, femme fatale and leading intellectual of the age, and—most significantly—Philippe himself, a towering figure in one of the most significant periods of European history.

The Last King of America

The Last King of America PDF Author: Andrew Roberts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984879278
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1033

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Churchill and Napoleon The last king of America, George III, has been ridiculed as a complete disaster who frittered away the colonies and went mad in his old age. The truth is much more nuanced and fascinating--and will completely change the way readers and historians view his reign and legacy. Most Americans dismiss George III as a buffoon--a heartless and terrible monarch with few, if any, redeeming qualities. The best-known modern interpretation of him is Jonathan Groff's preening, spitting, and pompous take in Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway masterpiece. But this deeply unflattering characterization is rooted in the prejudiced and brilliantly persuasive opinions of eighteenth-century revolutionaries like Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who needed to make the king appear evil in order to achieve their own political aims. After combing through hundreds of thousands of pages of never-before-published correspondence, award-winning historian Andrew Roberts has uncovered the truth: George III was in fact a wise, humane, and even enlightened monarch who was beset by talented enemies, debilitating mental illness, incompetent ministers, and disastrous luck. In The Last King of America, Roberts paints a deft and nuanced portrait of the much-maligned monarch and outlines his accomplishments, which have been almost universally forgotten. Two hundred and forty-five years after the end of George III's American rule, it is time for Americans to look back on their last king with greater understanding: to see him as he was and to come to terms with the last time they were ruled by a monarch.

Sex, Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth-Century British Politics

Sex, Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth-Century British Politics PDF Author: Marilyn Morris
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300210477
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
How, and why, did the Anglo-American world become so obsessed with the private lives and public character of its political leaders? Marilyn Morris finds answers in eighteenth-century Britain, when a long tradition of court intrigue and gossip spread into a much broader and more public political arena with the growth of political parties, extra-parliamentary political activities, and a partisan print culture. The public’s preoccupation with the personal character of the ruling elite paralleled a growing interest in the interior lives of individuals in histories, novels, and the theater. Newspaper reports of the royal family intensified in intimacy and its members became moral exemplars—most often, paradoxically, when they misbehaved. Ad hominem attacks on political leaders became commonplace; politicians of all affiliations continued to assess one another’s characters based on their success and daring with women and money. And newly popular human-interest journalism promoted the illusion that the personal characters of public figures could be read by appearances.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous

Mad, Bad and Dangerous PDF Author: Tom Ambrose
Publisher: Peter Owen Publishers
ISBN: 0720618711
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
A penetrating and incisive study of the fanaticism and foibles of some of history's most illustrious namesFrom Assad to Nero, Gaddafi to Ivan The Terrible, this work attempts a thorough illumination of the minds of some of the most powerful people in history. While leaving some room to describe the amusing incidents and eccentricities associated with a host of men and women of power, it also reaches into the terrifying depths and depravities of minds that shaped the destinies of peoples and nations. Using a unique combination of history, politics, and psychology, this book fully describes how power not only corrupts but deranges.

Palaces of Power

Palaces of Power PDF Author: Stephen Hoare
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750992840
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
The core of what we call St James's dates from the late seventeenth century, when large estates were leased by the Crown to the landed gentry after the Restoration in 1660. St James's clubs, coffee houses and institutions have been shaped by enterprise, political conflict, and Britain's emerging role as an Imperial power. This is the historic heart of London's Clubland. Over 300 years, Clubland has extended its reach to encompass Piccadilly, Mayfair, Bond Street, Covent Garden and Westminster. Ever discreet, the clubs do not draw attention to themselves, though their members are often highly influential individuals who are leaders in politics, the law, the media and much more. Palaces of Power charts the evolution of London's Clubland, St James's, exploring the social and cultural history of the city's most prestigious district, and studying the tensions between the world of privilege and an emerging public realm over the last three centuries.

A Royal Experiment

A Royal Experiment PDF Author: Janice Hadlow
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 0805096574
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 706

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Book Description
This groundbreaking royal biography offers “a fascinating, story-filled account” of King George III’s radical—and doomed—pursuit of familial happiness (The Guardian, UK). King George III of Great Britain was determined to be different from his Hanoverian predecessors. Neither of the previous Georges was faithful to his wife, and both hated their own sons. Overall, their children were angry, jealous, and disaffected schemers, whose palace shenanigans made for royal embarrassment and salacious scandals. Pained by his childhood amid this cruel and feuding family, George came to the throne aspiring to be a new kind of king—a force for moral good. And to be that new kind of king, he had to be a new kind of man. Against his irresistibly awful family background—of brutal royal intrigue, infidelity, and betrayal—George fervently pursued a radical domestic dream: he would have a faithful marriage and raise loving, educated, and resilient children. In this acclaimed biography, Janice Hadlow shares a vivid and revelatory account of King George, Queen Charlotte, and their fifteen children as they struggled to undo generations of bitter dysfunction and pursue a passion for family. A Times and Sunday Times Best Books of the Year

Help from the Baron

Help from the Baron PDF Author: John Creasey
Publisher: House of Stratus
ISBN: 0755118545
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
The Fioras jewels are missing and Francesca Lisle, one of John Manneringa s (aka a The Barona ) neighbours, is mysteriously asked by her father to retrieve a leather holdall from underneath the floorboards and take it to him at Waterloo station. Francesca is kidnapped, however, and ends up in the River Thames. Meanwhile, Joy Lessing, is also kidnapped, or so it would seem a Mannering is unwittingly involved and sets off to investigate, but cannot tell the police everything he discovers and so acting almost alone must somehow outwit the other players in a complex plot of deceit and duplicity, including having to deal with the notorious Ephraim Scoby."

A Challenger's Song

A Challenger's Song PDF Author: Philip Pearson
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
ISBN: 1398473723
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
A sensitive and lovingly told story mixing fact, action, letters, journals, song and oral history. Pearson writes with a rich clarity and intelligence about his great grandfather, Charlie Collins, the boy who ran away to sea to become head stoker on the celebrated scientific expedition of the HMS Challenger (1872-76). Finding his feet as a blacksmith back in Brighton with wife Mary and family, we learn about the joys, hardships and everyday heroism of their lives within the grand sweep of 19th Century history. Andrea Watts, writer and creative writing tutor In 1872, HMS Challenger, powered by sail and steam, left Portsmouth for an epic voyage of ocean exploration. A Challenger’s Song combines a lifetime reimagined with a fresh account of the voyage seen through the eyes of the crew and scientists, drawing on their own letters and accounts. ‘I had read about the voyage of HMS Challenger before, but this combination of imaginative reconstruction and factual information for me shed a new light on life for those on board ... my appreciation of the men and boys whose hard work kept the Challenger going, and made possible the collection of samples which led to a transformation of our understanding of the deep oceans, was increased enormously ... The sea shanty section at the end is a nice bonus! Angela Colling, Editor, Ocean Challenge.