George IV

E. A. Smith

Published by Yale University Press 1999

George IV

E. A. Smith

In the series The English Monarchs Series

https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300184235

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

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

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
PREFACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
NOTE ON ABBREVIATIONS AND REFERENCES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiv
1. A Prince and his Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. The Pursuit of Pleasure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
3. A Palace for a Prince Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
4. Maria Fitzherbert Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
5. Hopes Disappointed Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
6. Clouds of War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
7. Caroline Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	70
8. A Political Prince Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
9. The Royal Malady Again Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
10. Changing Allegiances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
11. Brothers and Sisters Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
12. Prince Regent Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
13. A Glorious Victory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
14. Rebellious Daughter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
15. Seditious Subjects and Turbulent Wife Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
16. Crowned without a Queen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
17. King of Three Dominions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
18. The King’s Servants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
19. ‘The Invisible’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	216
20. Constitutional Monarch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	226
21. The Royal Builder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
22. Patron and Collector Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
23. The King in Seclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
24. Conclusion: I Father and Son Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
24. Conclusion: II ‘THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED MAN’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	284
APPENDIX: GEORGE IV* S CHILDREN Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301

Language: English
Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages
- Main content: 320

eBook

Published: February 12, 2018
ISBN: 9780300184235