PRINCE OF PLEASURE: THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE MAKING OF THE REGENCY [Paperback]

Saul David (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: see notes for publisher info (1998)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000OUHY1Y
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Little new is revealed in this, November 26, 2000

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency (Hardcover)

I am ambivalent at best about Saul David's book "Prince of Pleasure".

On the good side I think he is very readable and I did enjoy a great deal of this book. Unfortunately I don't think he brought up much to shed new light on the Prince and indeed some of the matters on which he emphasised he failed to distinguish between rumour and innuendo, and what was actual provable fact - the supposed love children of the Prince Regent's sisters for instance. Other people have presented far better researched and more compelling arguments on these things than he did.

The book left wondering what there was really new in this that Christopher Hibbert has not discussed in his 2 volume biography of the Prince Regent Published some 25 years ago? If there was anything new about the Prince I think it was mostly window decoration.

Also I was somewhat disturbed by a number of errors of fact in the book - none of which really destroyed or influenced the subject of the book as they were on peripheral issues - but nevertheless annoying - for instance he said the Earl of Barrymore (better known as Hellgate) had been shot by the soldiers in his regiment - untrue. He died in an accidental shooting when his sporting gun went off in his carriage. David implies that Harriette Wilson made a fortune from her memoirs - also not true.

I also found it hard to agree with some of the interpretations he put on various quotes from people - to prove that the Prince had had an affair with Harriette Wilson for instance - or his assertion from a very ambiguous quote that Beau Brummell was Gay.

David does have a very neat way of blending in the elements of history with the life of the Prince Regent which I also found very enjoyable. I wish he would footnote a bit more so it was possible to see where he drew his information from.

One final quibble I have with this book is that "Prince of Pleasure" is a title that is already used by J B Priestley's 1969 work on the Prince Regent and the Regency period. This was a popular book and well known. I wondered if David had read it, but it doesn't turn up in his bibliography - a fact I find surprising for he must have come across it in his research. It just seems a bit cheeky to use the same title in a book on exactly the same subject and not acknowledge it.

In the end I am left wondering what he has added that was not already known about the Prince Regent. Still it is interesting and readable.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wastrel's Life, September 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency (Hardcover)

A wasted life - wasted on wine, women, song, dance, poetry - they say the 'road to Hell is paved with good intentions.' Truly Prinny had good intentions - he wanted to lead his troops in battle, win glory and thereby the respect of his disapproving parents; he wanted to do many things, but the booze, porphyria, and, obviously, depression kept getting in his way. That he passed it on to his only recognised daughter is another tragedy - but, with regard to today's situation amonst the British Royals, isn't this just another case of unruly spoiled children?

Very well done and full of 'dirt' - George IV wasn't the only brat in the family - 'Prince of Pleasure' presents an incisive view of late-18th century politics and society. His explanation of the various 'regency crises' is succinct and easy to follow - something that most historians make a hash of. The Pitt and Fox portraits are particularly revealing - altruitic for the one and definately earthy for the other. Overall an extremely readable overview of the period that 'formed' the 19th century in Britain and the US.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Prinny, September 28, 2000

By 

Shay Lynn "shay_in_colorado" (Centennial, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prince of Pleasure: The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency (Hardcover)

This book was the first I've read that presents a balanced picture of the Regent. He had many unattractive qualities but they were the shortcomings of someone who never really grew up, a lifelong adolescent. He had some finer traits that might have served him perfectly well if he'd been a private gentleman instead of the heir to the throne. I was particularly interested in the theory that the Regent suffered to a lesser extent the hereditary disease that most historians believe caused George III's madness.