George IV (The English Monarchs Series) - Softcover

Smith, E. A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300088027 ISBN 13: 9780300088021

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2001

Synopsis

This engrossing biography of George IV, king of England from 1820 to 1830, gives a full and objective reassessment of the monarch’s character, reputation, and achievement. Previous writers have tended to accept the unfavorable verdicts of the king’s contemporaries that he was a dissolute, pleasure-loving dilettante and a feeble and ineffective ruler who was responsible for the decline of the power and reputation of the monarchy in the early nineteenth century. Now E.A. Smith offers a new view of George IV, one that does not minimize the king’s faults but focuses on the positive qualities of his achievement in politics and in the patronage of the arts.

Smith explores the roots of the king’s character and personality, stressing the importance of his relationship with his parents and twelve surviving siblings. He examines the king’s important contributions to the cultural enhancement of his capital and his encouragement of the major artistic, literary, and scholarly figures of his time. He reassesses the king’s role as constitutional monarch, contending that it was he, rather than Victoria and Albert, who created the constitutional monarchy of nineteenth-century Britain and began the revival of its popularity. Smith’s biography not only illuminates the character of one of the most colorful of Britain’s rulers but also contributes to the history of the British monarchy and its role in the nation’s life.

About this title

About the Author

E. A. Smith was reader in history at the University of Reading and the author of A Queen on Trial: The Affair of Queen Caroline, among other books.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300088027
• ISBN 13: 9780300088021
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320