Download or read book Prinny and His Pals written by Tom Ambrose and published by Peter Owen Publishers. This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Last King of America written by Andrew Roberts and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 1033 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Sex Money and Personal Character in Eighteenth Century British Politics written by Marilyn Morris and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2015-01-28 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Mad Bad and Dangerous written by Tom Ambrose and published by Peter Owen Publishers. This book was released on 2016-01-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Palaces of Power written by Stephen Hoare and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2019-08-05 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book A Royal Experiment written by Janice Hadlow and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2014-11-18 with total page 706 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Times Best Books of the Year • The Sunday Times Best Books of the Year The New Statesman Book of the Year selection by Lucy Hughes-Hallett BBC History Magazine Book of the Year selection by Helen Rappaport "A masterpiece . . . . [T]his heartbreaking narrative of family dysfunction and royal sacrifice is an absolute page-turner." —Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire "[A] fascinating, story-filled account . . . . Each story is a revelation." —Jenny Uglow, The Guardian The surprising, deliciously dramatic, and ultimately heartbreaking story of King George III's radical pursuit of happiness in his private life with Queen Charlotte and their 15 children In the U.S., Britain's George III, the protagonist of A Royal Experiment, is known as the king from whom Americans won their independence and as "the mad king," but in Janice Hadlow's groundbreaking and entertaining new biography, he is another character altogether—compelling and relatable. He was the first of Britain's three Hanoverian kings to be born in England, the first to identify as native of the nation he ruled. But this was far from the only difference between him and his predecessors. Neither of the previous Georges was faithful to his wife, nor to his mistresses. Both hated their own sons. And, overall, their children were angry, jealous, and disaffected schemers, whose palace shenanigans kick off Hadlow's juicy narrative and also made their lives unhappy ones. 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. The struggle of King George—along with his wife, Queen Charlotte, and their 15 children—to pursue a passion for family will surprise history buffs and delight a broad swath of biography readers and royal watchers.
Download or read book The House in Grosvenor Square written by Linore Rose Burkard and published by Harvest House Publishers. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Godfather of the Revolution written by Tom Ambrose and published by Peter Owen Publishers. This book was released on 2014-10-01 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The New Yorker written by Harold Wallace Ross and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Why Kill the Innocent written by C. S. Harris and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-02-26 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paperback reprint, a brutal murder draws nobleman Sebastian St. Cyr into the tangled web of the British royal court in this gripping historical mystery from the national bestselling author of Where the Dead Lie. London, 1814. As a cruel winter holds the city in its icy grip, the bloody body of a beautiful young musician is found half-buried in a snowdrift. Jane Ambrose's ties to Princess Charlotte, the only child of the Prince Regent and heir presumptive to the throne, panic the palace, which moves quickly to shut down any investigation into the death of the talented pianist. But Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, and his wife, Hero, refuse to allow Jane's murderer to escape justice. Untangling the secrets of Jane's world leads Sebastian into a maze of dangerous treachery where each player has his or her own unsavory agenda and no one can be trusted. As the Thames freezes over and the people of London pour onto the ice for a Frost Fair, Sebastian and Hero find their investigation circling back to the palace and building to a chilling crescendo of deceit and death . . .
Download or read book A Challenger s Song written by Philip Pearson and published by Austin Macauley Publishers. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Heroes and Exiles written by Tom Ambrose and published by New Holland Publishers Uk Limited. This book was released on 2010 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonized by the Church throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, homosexuals became the scapegoats of society, constantly facing exile or a brutal death. In 'Heroes and Exiles' the human cost of this long exile is told through the lives of the most eminent homosexual men and women in history.
Download or read book Skelton s Guide to Suitcase Murders written by David Stafford and published by Allison & Busby Ltd. This book was released on 2021-04-22 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A woman's dismembered corpse is discovered in a suitcase, and police quickly identify her husband, Doctor Ibrahim Aziz, as their chief suspect. Incriminating evidence is discovered at his home and his wife was rumoured to be having an affair, giving him clear motive. With his reputation for winning hopeless cases, barrister Arthur Skelton is asked to represent the accused. Though Aziz's guilt does not seem to be in doubt, a question of diplomacy and misplaced larvae soon lead Skelton to suspect there may be more to the victim's death. Aided by his loyal clerk Edgar, Skelton soon finds himself seeking justice for both victim and defendant. But can he uncover the truth before an innocent man is put on trial and condemned to the gallows?
Download or read book A Love Letter From Princess Lucky Mommy Me written by Richard Pomerantz and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-03-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People who met Princess even for the first time called her one of those rarest of “once-in-a-lifetime” canines saying, “if she could only tell her own remarkable life story . . .” Simply stated, Princess did nothing less than save her family. Which is why—were she human instead of canine—her extraordinary qualities and skills would be aptly characterized as rare gifts of nature. Regal in bearing. Preternaturally intelligent with an obvious uncanny ability to reason. Charismatic with an unwavering purposefulness, sense of love and loyalty, devotion and dedication to duty. Especially when called upon to become her mother’s Canine Cancer Companion-- with intense focus, an innate calmness and an almost freakish composure in every crisis. A leader. A strategist. A wondrous communicator. A terrific listener and quick study. A true once-in-a-lifetime. Told with the assistance of her human father, this is her unusual memoir of compelling, touching, relentlessly inspiring true stories from an extraordinary life. All viewed through her own and most unique lens. Soon to be followed by the whimsical illustrative sequel: “A Day In The Life Of Lucky, Mommy & Me”© (Authored by Barbara Brooks Pomerantz).
Download or read book Freddy the Detective written by Walter R. Brooks and published by eBookIt.com. This book was released on 2021-02 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freddy the pig does some detective work in order to solve the mystery of the missing toy train. The delightful detective story about the beloved animal characters on Mr. Bean's farm, whose adventures have entertained so many children. Freddy the Pig has been reading Sherlock Holmes and knows that he, too, can apply his brain to solving mysteries. beginning with Farmer Bean's son's loss of a toy train Freddy becomes very efficient in the apprehension of criminals. In the end he not only solves the case of the murdered crow, but successfully acts as defense attorney for the falsely accused Jinx the cat. How often did Sherlock do that?
Download or read book Pistols at Dawn written by Richard Hopton and published by Piatkus Books. This book was released on 2007 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Duelling is embedded in our collective consciousness, through numerous films and books. This book traces the history of the duel from its medieval antecedents in trial by combat and chivalric tournaments. Using numerous accounts of actual duels, it shows how the arcane rules of the duel evolved.
Download or read book Full of Beans written by Jennifer L. Holm and published by Yearling. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award Five Starred Reviews! A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, 2016 Grown-ups lie. That’s one truth Beans knows for sure. He and his gang know how to spot a whopper a mile away, because they are the savviest bunch of barefoot conchs (that means “locals”) in all of Key West. Not that Beans really minds; it’s 1934, the middle of the Great Depression. With no jobs on the island, and no money anywhere, who can really blame the grown-ups for telling a few tales? Besides, Beans isn’t anyone’s fool. In fact, he has plans. Big plans. And the consequences might surprise even Beans himself. Return to the wonderful world of Newbery Honor Book Turtle in Paradise through the eyes of Turtle’s cousin Beans! "A surprising coming-of-age story with a remarkably honest message." —The New York Times "[Holm] captures this colorful slice of Depression history with her usual vivacious wit. . . . Children will love Beans." —Shelf Awareness, Starred "A novel as entertaining as the motion pictures [Beans] loves to see."—The Horn Book Magazine, Starred “Inspired by actual events, Holm’s talent for writing historical fiction is on full display. . . . Interesting family and small-town dynamics further enrich this fascinating account of a young boy’s life in Florida’s ‘Recovery Key.’” —Booklist, Starred "Filled with humor, heart, and warmth." —Kirkus Review, Starred "Entertaining and illuminating historical fiction." —Publishers Weekly, Starred
