The Last Royal Rebel

£14.99

James, Duke of Monmouth, the adored illegitimate son of Charles II, was born in exile the very year that his grandfather was executed and the English monarchy abolished. Snatched from his mother on his father’s orders, James emerged from a childhood in the boarding houses of Rotterdam to command the ballrooms of London, the brothels of Covent Garden and the battlefields of Flanders. For 36 years he would light up the firmament. He inspired delight and disgust, adulation and abhorrence and, in time, love and loyalty almost beyond fathoming. Anna Keay brings to life the warm, courageous and handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission ‘lived a very dissolute and irregular life’, but who was prepared to risk everything for honour and justice.

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Description

‘A superb biography, which paints a vivid picture of the times and of her subject’ Daily Telegraph‘Fascinating, compelling, outrageous and ultimately tragic’ Simon Sebag MontefioreIt is the best royal biography I have read in years’ A.N. WilsonFrom the Duff Cooper Prize-winning author of The Restless Republic, a remarkable biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the Restoration era.James, Duke of Monmouth, the favoured illegitimate son of Charles II, was born in exile the year his grandfather Charles I was executed and the English monarchy abolished. Abducted from his mother on his father’s orders, he emerged from a childhood in the backstreets of Rotterdam to command the ballrooms of Paris, the brothels of Covent Garden and the battlefields of Flanders.Such was his appeal that when the monarchy itself came under threat, the cry was for Monmouth to succeed Charles II as king. He inspired both delight and disgust, adulation and abhorrence and, in time, love and loyalty. Louis XIV was his mentor, Nell Gwyn his protector, D’Artagnan his lieutenant, William of Orange his confidant, John Dryden his censor and John Locke his comrade.In The Last Royal Rebel, Anna Keay matches rigorous scholarship with a storyteller’s gift to enrapturing effect. She paints a vivid portrait of the warm, courageous and handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission ‘lived a very dissolute and irregular life’, but who was ultimately prepared to risk everything for honour and justice. His story, culminating in his fateful invasion, provides a sweeping chronicle of the turbulent decades in which England as we know it was forged.

Additional information

Weight 417 g
Dimensions 198 × 129 × 31 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

462

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

942.066092 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K