George IV / E.A. Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, E.A., Author.

Series:

Yale English monarchs.

Yale English monarchs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

George IV, King of Great Britain, 1762-1830.

George.

Regency--Great Britain.

Regency.

Great Britain--History--George III, 1760-1820.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--George IV, 1820-1830.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (322 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [1999]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

NOTE ON ABBREVIATIONS AND REFERENCES

1. A Prince and his Education

2. The Pursuit of Pleasure

3. A Palace for a Prince

4. Maria Fitzherbert

5. Hopes Disappointed

6. Clouds of War

7. Caroline

8. A Political Prince

9. The Royal Malady Again

10. Changing Allegiances

11. Brothers and Sisters

12. Prince Regent

13. A Glorious Victory

14. Rebellious Daughter

15. Seditious Subjects and Turbulent Wife

16. Crowned without a Queen

17. King of Three Dominions

18. The King's Servants

19. 'The Invisible'

20. Constitutional Monarch

21. The Royal Builder

22. Patron and Collector

23. The King in Seclusion

24. Conclusion: I Father and Son

24. Conclusion: II 'THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED MAN'

APPENDIX: GEORGE IV* S CHILDREN

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 293-300) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-18423-9

OCLC:

907290046