The Madness of George III: A BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramatization (BBC Audio Radio) [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Alan Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009 | Series: BBC Audio Radio

The Madness of George III is one of Alan Bennett's most popular plays, first performed in 1991, and adapted for BBC Radio. A fictionalized biographical study of the latter half of the reign of George III of Great Britain, his battle with mental illness and the inability of his court to handle his condition. Includes music by Handel.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Bennett was first on stage with the Oxford Theatre Group in 1959. He collaborated on the revue Beyond the Fringe, which opened in Edinburgh in 1960 and then to the West End and Broadway. His collection of diary entries, essays and reviews, Writing Home (1994) was a bestseller. His other works include: The Wind in the Willows for the National Theatre, The Madness of George III, and Talking Heads.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: AudioGO Ltd. (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602837376
• ISBN-13: 978-1602837379
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,367,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Bennett is a renowned playwright and essayist, a succession of whose plays have been staged at the Royal National Theatre and whose screenplay for The Madness of King George was nominated for an Academy Award. He made his first stage appearance with Beyond the Fringe and his latest play was The Lady in the Van with Maggie Smith. Episodes from his award-winning Talking Heads series have been shown on PBS. His first novel, The Clothes They Stood Up In, was published in 2000. He lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who says history has to be boring?, November 16, 2002

By 

magellan (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Madness of George III (Paperback)

I once read that, in addition to his unfortunate condition of porphyria, the mental effects of which became the basis for this screenplay, King George also had an anal fistula. Perhaps this explains his dyspeptic attitude toward the American colonies, since we were such a pain in the a__, and he already, as a result of the fistula, had plenty of them.

I also learned once that the French King, Louis XIV, used to hold court with his advisors and other notables while receiving his daily enema, thereby making him sort of a public "enema of the people." No wonder the French monarchy had so many problems.

It's amazing how much of history seems to relate to the proctological vagaries of its rulers. In George III's case, because of his unfortunate anal fistula, one could say it perhaps ultimately came down to a problem with the bottom of the man at the top.