Lord Minimus: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man [Hardcover]

Nick Page (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2002

At the climax of the feast, a large pie is set down before the Queen, who is given a knife and invited to cut into the pastry. Before she can do so, however, the crust begins to crack and rise of its own accord. From out of the pie emerges a tiny man-perfectly proportioned and dressed in a suit of miniature armor. He climbs onto the table in front of the Queen, bows low, and asks to be taken into her service.

The little man's name is Jeffrey Hudson. He is seven years old and stands only eighteen inches tall. Lord Minimus is the first complete biography of Hudson. Drawn from original, contemporary sources, Nick Page weaves a tale that is not only a thrilling biography, but also a fascinating insight into the seventeenth century.

For a man of such diminutive stature, Hudson lived life on a grand scale. 'The smallest man in England' ventured forth from a humble rural background to set course on an episodic roller coaster that led him to the edges of the known world. From the lowest strata he rose to the courts of Kings and Queens. Van Dyck painted his portrait and he performed in one of Ben Jonson's famous masques. Sir Walter Scott wrote of Hudson's exploits in the English civil war. The pocket-sized companion of the Queen also killed a man in a duel, was captured by pirates, and spent years in slavery. Ultimately, he died alone and forgotten, abandoned by an indifferent society that had long ago moved on to the next object of fashion.

The story of Jeffrey Hudson is most notably a story of hope and dignity, of how one man refused to accept his physical limitations, even though it was to cost him everything.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1626, as King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria enjoyed a lavish banquet hosted by the Duke of Buckingham, a pie was brought before the royal couple. From it emerged a fully proportioned, 18-inch boy named Jeffrey Hudson. Hudson would remain with the queen for the next 18 years, serving as the Queen's Dwarf and witnessing some of the seminal events in British history. Page (The Tabloid Shakespeare) succeeds outstandingly on two counts: first, in telling the extraordinary life of Hudson, and second, in recreating the Stuart court of Charles I in all its ill-fated brilliance. Page handles the political history and social milieu with impressive ease. Readers get engaging portraits of playwright Ben Jonson, designer Inigo Jones and architect Christopher Wren. Page tellingly juxtaposes the manufactured, perfect world of Inigo Jones's court masques with the darker discontent of the Puritans, who would trigger a bloody civil war and end up as king-killers. Throughout, the author goes from larger considerations of Stuart politics and society to the smaller context of Hudson's picaresque life. He was kidnapped by pirates, twice. His portrait was painted by Van Dyck. And then, after nearly two decades living in royal luxury (and becoming quite famous), he spent the next quarter-century as a slave in North Africa. Page's narrative is as fast-paced as a good historical novel. This is just plain fun reading for anyone interested in a different approach to Stuart England.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this sympathetic retelling of the career of the man known as "Lord Minimus," Page (The Tabloid Shakespeare; In search of the World's Worst Writers) offers a fascinating perspective on the opulent lifestyle of the court of Queen Henrietta Maria and Charles I and on 17th-century social history. Jeffrey Hudson, the 18-inch tall "official dwarf" of the Stuart court, made his first appearance before royalty in 1626 at a banquet hosted by George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Hudson, seven years old "the smallest human being that anyone had ever seen, perfectly proportioned and dressed in a suit of miniature armor climbed out of a gilded pastry pie stood shyly on the table in front of the Queen and bowed low." Between that first bow and Hudson's death, in London in late 1681, probably "alone and in poverty, unremarked and unremembered," stretched a journey that included intrigue, banishment, civil war, enslavement by Barbary pirates, and, in 1678, imprisonment for "being known to be a Roman Catholick." Page calls Hudson's life "one of the most remarkable stories of the seventeenth century." Certainly this account offers vivid and remarkable insights into the man and the times in which he lived. Recommended for most libraries. Robert C. Jones, Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312291612
• ISBN-13: 978-0312291617
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,801,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nick Page is a writer, information designer, and creative consultant. He has written a number of books, including street life, The Tabloid Bible, Lord Minimus, BLUE, and The Church Invisible. He also writes regular articles for Youthwalk, Christianity & Renewal, and works for a number of charities and NGOs. He and his wife, Claire, have three daughters and live in Eynsham in Oxfordshire, England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent biography, and an excellent portrait of an era, August 23, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lord Minimus: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man (Hardcover)

In 1626, the Duke of Buckingham gave a party for King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. The dinner was sumptuous, and the entertainment magnificent. But, Buckingham had an ace up his sleeve. When the ornate pie was set before the queen, out popped a most amazing sight, a seven-year-old boy; he was dressed in a marvelous suit of armor and stood eighteen inches tall! His name was Jeffrey Hudson.

Jeffrey was born in 1619 to a large, ill-educated butcher, but fate (and the Duke of Buckingham) raised him up to be the constant companion of the Queen of England, even though fate also raised him up to be no more than 30 inches tall at the age of twenty! He loved the queen and stood by her through thick and thin (and it got very thick and thin for Henrietta Maria and her husband), and had more experiences in his life than most people can even imagine.

Throughout this book, author Nick Page spins a marvelous true story, telling of Jeffrey's experiences and the great happenings that were going on in his world. I found Jeffrey's story to be touching - sometimes heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking. I also enjoyed the history that the author wove into the narrative, making the era come more alive for me than it ever has before.

I have two very small complaints against this book. First, the author references three paintings of Jeffrey, but they are not reproduced in color within the book (one is in color on the dust jacket, while another is poorly reproduced in black-and-white). The second one is that I found that the author's periodic references to future events disturbed the flow of the narrative, and somewhat broke the feeling of being transported to another place and time.

However, outside of those two niggling complaints, I found this to be an absolutely outstanding book. Lord Minimus is an excellent biography, and an excellent portrait of an era. I highly recommend it to everyone!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big Picture, July 30, 2003

By 

Bruce Loveitt (Ogdensburg, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lord Minimus: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man (Hardcover)

This is an extraordinary book. Ostensibly a biography of Jeffrey Hudson, "Britain's Smallest Man," this fascinating work contains hidden depths. Along the way, we get mini-biographies (pun intended) of Charles I, Charles's wife Henrietta Maria, Charles II, and the artist Anthony Van Dyck. We also learn quite a bit about the English Civil War and the Barbary pirates. Even though the book is only 234 pages long, not counting appendices, and even though Mr. Page is providing so much other material, we never feel as though the author is getting sidetracked. "Lord Minimus" remains the center of attention and, considering the paucity of historical data available to the author, we come to know Jeffrey (his actions, thoughts, and feelings) probably as well as is possible. The book is filled with memorable scenes: Charles I, after asking his 11 year old son why he has been crying, receives the following reply- "My grandfather left you four kingdoms, and I am afraid your Majesty will leave me never one."; Charles I asking "The English Methuselah," Thomas Parr (purportedly 151 years old at the time) how he got to live so long received the reply that the old fellow was "doing penance" for having fathered a child out of wedlock when Parr was over 100 years old. (Parr's actual remark was a bit cruder than what I can write in this review. Charles didn't appreciate the wisecrack, by the way, as he was a bit on the puritanical side. Pretty ironic, actually, considering what happened to Charles under the "Roundheads.") I don't want to give too much away, but suffice it to say that Jeffrey led a full life- which included a duel and a 25 year stint as a slave in North Africa (courtesy of the aforementioned Barbary pirates). Oh, I forgot to mention one other area Mr. Page goes into some detail about: the world of 17th century theater. We go behind the scenes with Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones, and learn about some bizarre "tricks of the trade," such as hiring people to shout "Fire!" so the audience will be distracted and not notice scene changes being made! As the author writes, "It was a great idea with only one tiny flaw: there were panics and the whole theater emptied in the stampede for safety." With a minimum of fuss, we are given a maximum amount of very interesting material. Great book!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brought this time period alive & was easy to read, April 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Lord Minimus: The Extraordinary Life of Britain's Smallest Man (Hardcover)

While the story of Geoffrey Hudson, Lord Minimum, is an interesting one and worth reading, the author really succeeds in making Hudson's entire world real and accessible to the reader. I love it when a good book generates an interest in me to learn more about the subject and times, and I'm now interested in reading more about the court of Henrietta and Charles I and his trial and subsequent execution. Nick Page occasionally is a little tedious with his constant foreshadowing of upcoming events, but it was easy to forgive him this because his writing is easy and engaging.