A look at the life of the 6th Duke of Devonshire, the greatest collector of his age and transformed Chatsworth into a palace of spectacular grandeur. He never failed to return from his travels without some new object. Yet despite his riches and social status, he was also devoid of snobbery.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Full of devastating put-downs and acerbic opinions on British royals' foibles, neuroses, amours and intrigues, this compulsively readable biography uses a minor historical figure?William Cavendish, sixth duke of Devonshire, Whig member of Parliament and Lord Chamberlain to King William IV?to provide a panoramic window on an age. Vain, dandyish, hypochondriac, partially deaf, the "Bachelor Duke" was a ladies' man, a reckless spender, a manic horticulturist and book collector, a generous patron, an art collector who owned sculptor Antonio Canova's "Endymion" and his portrait bust of Napoleon's formidable mother, "Madame Mere." An amateur architect, the duke restored Lismore Castle in Ireland; rebuilt an entire English village, Edensor, which still stands; and transformed his Elizabethan country house, Chatsworth, into a veritable palace-museum. British biographer-diarist Lees-Milne's (Ancient as the Hills) attempt to portray Cavendish as a progressive liberal who championed middle-class electoral rights and the Irish Catholic struggle seems beside the point because, as the author concedes, the duke was an indolent politician and intended the aristocratic system to last beyond his lifetime. The book's great merit is its gossipy, inside look at a squirearchical system in decline and at Britain's geopolitical chess game, especially with Russia, ruled by the duke's intimate friend, Czar Nicholas I. Told with great verve, wit and panache, this biography includes sharp cameos of Cavendish's celebrated friends, among them Dickens, Thackeray, Florence Nightingale, actress Sarah Siddons, poet Leigh Hunt and the Russian spy, Countess Dorothea Lieven. Photos.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
An unusual man,
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This review is from: The Bachelor Duke: A Life of William Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire, 1790-1858 (Hardcover)
The Bachelor Duke is a very interesting story about the 6th duke of Devonshire. No one lives such a life in the 21 century. he ordered private trains like we order a taxi!
If you are interested in Chastworth then this is required reading!
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