Sex, intrigue and adultery in the world of high politics and huge wealth in late eighteenth-century England – the much-anticipated illustrated version of Amanda Foreman's popular bestseller Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
As one of the most flamboyant and influential women of the late eighteenth century, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire was an icon of her time. Born Lady Georgiana Spencer, she married the fifth Duke of Devonshire in 1774; within a short space of time she had become the undisputed queen of fashionable society, adored by the Prince Regent, an intimate of Marie-Antoinette, an influential Whig hostess and a darling of the common people. Yet for all her aura of public glamour, Georgiana's personal life was fraught with suffering brought on by her compulsive gambling, which led to insurmountable debts and ignominy, and her search for love, which caused misery and exile.
Georgiana's World is the illustrated version of Amanda Foreman's bestselling biography, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and brings a fresh perspective to her life and times. Filled with images of the people and places she actually knew, a series of special features explore such aspects of eighteenth-century life as aristocratic attitudes towards children; dynastic marriages and feudal landed interests; the outrageous fashions of the time; medicine, from birth to death; the theatre and satirical drama of the time; the wars in America and France; dissipation, gambling and drugs; electioneering and civil unrest; the Prince of Wales and his flamboyant lifestyle; and travel abroad.
This lavish, penetrating book presents a compelling portrait of a world of political and sexual intrigues, grand houses and extreme wealth – always on the edge of being squandered by the excesses and scandals of individuals; and of a woman whose exceptional beauty, charm and political flair, and whose brave struggles against illness and personal weakness, made her one of the most charismatic people of her time.
