Customer Reviews

Beau Brummell

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

George "Beau" Brummell was known for fashion in the Regency era. But this book details how a man of humble beginnings rose to the top of social circles and became the man to emulate, surpassing The Prince Regent.
If you are a history buff of late Georgian and Regency England or you are a writer trying to capture the ambiance and backdrop that was so particular in social graces and protocol, then this is a must read. This books shares ancedotes and details that can only come from indepth research. You can watch all the movies you want but to truly understand the Georgian and Regency era's you must read books like this one.

This is a nominal book. It's not a waste of time, but it's not an entertaining read either.

I take off two starts for a couple of reasons. First, this book is a dry read. There's nothing that adds zest or brings it to life. Rather, it's just a biographical string of events from one onto to other. Second, I find the book unevenly weighted in its details. While it unearths some wonderful details on the Beau's life, it misses some other major details. For instance, it hardly goes into the Beau's disease and never mentions the term "syphilis" even though he died from it. The book misses Beau's significant and forming relationships with ladies, even though there's no salacious scandals to present embarrassment. The book glosses over the Beau's service in the Dragoons, even though being this pretty solider formulate his upcoming dandy ways. So, some detail is present, and then there are other noticeable gaps. Third, the book goes into to many tangents on the royalty of the time. Even though the prince and king were in Beau's orbit, still, so much text is dedicate to England's royalty that at times I thought the book was about them instead of the Beau.

So, I wouldn't get this book as your first reader about BB - better books exist. Rather, get this book only for complete information or additional research.

I loved the first half and I only liked the second half.

Beau was THE original early 19th century dandy who started modern trends in men's fashions. Well...they always say one good looking guy is "worse" than 10 good-looking girls, when it comes to standing in front of the mirror.

I liked the name-dropping and the feeling of Regency splendor in the first half of the book. After Beau was frozen out of Regency England due to bad debts and he went to live in France, the story takes a down-turn. It does not have the happy ending I would have wished for Beau.