The Duchess (Paperback)

by Amanda Foreman (Author)
Key Phrases: Lady Spencer, Devonshire House, Lady Melbourne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“Georgiana bursts from the pages of Amanda Foreman’s dazzling biography like the force of nature she undoubtedly was–passionate, political, addicted to gambling, and drunk on life. This is a stunning book about an astonishing woman.”
–Simon Schama

“Biography at its best . . . seamlessly merges a life and its times, capturing not just an individual but an age.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Riveting . . . marvelously diverting.”
–The New Yorker


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Review
“Georgiana bursts from the pages of Amanda Foreman’s dazzling biography like the force of nature she undoubtedly was–passionate, political, addicted to gambling, and drunk on life. This is a stunning book about an astonishing woman.”
–Simon Schama

“Biography at its best . . . seamlessly merges a life and its times, capturing not just an individual but an age.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Riveting . . . marvelously diverting.”
–The New Yorker

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (August 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812979699
• ISBN-13: 978-0812979695
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,090 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #11 in	Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Systems Of Government > Monarchy
  #16 in	Books > History > Europe > England > 18th Century
  #57 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Royalty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Woman In The Eighteenth Century, August 25, 2008

By	John D. Cofield - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"The Duchess" is the movie tie in version of Amanda Foreman's excellent 1998 biography "Georgiana". Except for the cover depicting Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, it is essentially the same book.

Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was born in the eighteenth century and died in the early nineteenth century, but her life was very modern in many ways. She was an open activist at a time when women were supposed to stay behind the scenes, a bold and flamboyant hostess who used her social prestige to advance her political agenda, and a beautiful but ultimately self-destructive woman whose emotions helped shape British history.

Georgiana was born into one wealthy and powerful aristocratic family and married into an even wealthier and more powerful one. The Cavendishes were bastions of the Whig oligarchy, which governed Britain almost continuously through the eighteenth century until the 1760s, when King George III forced them out of power. In opposition the Whigs became the progressives or liberals of the day, calling for curbs on the King's powers, protection for the liberties of the people, and for progress and social reform (with the ultimate aim of regaining power for themselves, of course). Georgiana was married to the Duke of Devonshire, who was retiring where she was outgoing, far more interested in living a quiet life with various mistresses than in helping to advance the Whig cause. Georgiana, frustrated with a husband who did not appreciate her, threw herself into politics, becoming a friend of Whig leaders like Charles James Fox and campaigning openly for him and others.

Georgiana's private life was complicated. She and her husband were involved in a years long menage a trois with Lady Elizabeth Foster, who was simultaneously Georgiana's best friend and the Duke's mistress and mother of his illegitimate children. Georgiana was addicted to gambling and lost enormous sums which she feared to reveal to the Duke. Eventually Georgiana herself had a love affair which nearly caused her marriage to end and forced her temporarily out of sight. Although she returned to political life after some years, her health broke down and her influence remained diminished.

Amanda Foreman has produced a work of great scholarship which reads like a novel. Georgiana's life is so fascinating that I've read this biography several times just to see what she would get up to next and how she would get out of one scrape after another. Foreman makes the good point that Georgiana epitomized many women of the eighteenth century, who were far more active and involved in politics than is generally supposed, as well as being a harbinger of the kind of power base to which women in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries still aspire.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Duchess, October 12, 2008

By	Carol Kasper Winet "Carol Kasper Winet" (Pasadena, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This serious biographical study of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire in the late 18th century, invites us to look behind the public face. On marriage, she became a celebrity for her beauty, charm, high spirits and wealth. She also became addicted to the greatest risk of her class and era, gambling, and thus far, might seem comparable to some young Hollywood beauties of the present day. As we readers come to know her, however, we see that she had intelligence and determination. She was passionate about politics. Much more than the usual for women, she became involved in campaigning. She bemoaned the limitations of her gender. Her history reflects her era and the limited role of women, although, in her case, she pushed it as far as she could.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, October 16, 2008

By	Ginny H. Berndt (Stowe, Vt United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Georgina was a women beyond her time. She had an adventureous and emotionally sad go with relationships. The author brings her to life. Read the book before you see the movie. Much more vivid picture painted of her life by the author.