Poor George III. Americans think of him as a tyrant whose unjust taxes provoked their revolution. Moviegoers envision a nightshirt-clad lunatic running through the palace halls in The Madness of King George. The handsome, gracious, conscientious young man of 22 who mounted the throne in 1760 may well be a revelation to many readers of Christopher Hibbert's elegant new biography. At 75, Hibbert is the dean of popular British historians and the author of more than 30 books spanning five centuries of European life; his experience enables him to convey prodigious research with the lightest of touches in his intimate account, which focuses on the king's personal character. Though Hibbert capably covers the period's political events and shows George to be a hardworking constitutional monarch, he prefers to direct our attention to the loving husband, devoted (though sometimes domineering) father, hearty appreciator of (very conventional) fine art, knowledgeable patron of literature, and avid all-around reader whose interests ranged from architecture to agriculture. This affectionate portrait makes it all the more distressing when George's bouts of madness (the result of a hereditary metabolic disease) begin in 1788 and permanently incapacitate him long before his death in 1820. Old-fashioned narrative biography doesn't get much better than this. --Wendy Smith


Boston Globe
"In Christopher Hibbert, George III has a sympathetic and scrupulous interpreter. Hibbert reveals a many-sided constitutional monarch, whose tragic private life overshadowed his public image."


From AudioFile
George III's life history unfolds like a fairy tale as Simon Prebble's soft voice transforms the text into a dramatic intrigue of jeweled crowns, castles, archbishops, and hunts on horseback. To emphasize a phrase, the narrator lowers his speech to a whisper. When the king goes mad, it is a madman's voice we hear. When the queen is worried, her words seem troubled. Thus, the biography of a king who so disliked unpunctuality, uncertainty, untidiness, and change provides plenty of plot for a story clothed in the trappings of British royalty. The combination of an exciting biography and a clever presentation produces a whole greater than its parts. J.A.H. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


The New York Times Book Review
"George III make[s] a simply unputdown-able theater of the personal and political absurd. Altogether entertaining."


Sunday Times, London
"A noble biography, which treats its subject the right amount of sympathy and understanding... Hibbert has brought the complexities of the man to the fore and revealed him to be one of the great kings of the modern era -- great in both the dramatic, tragic sense and as a constitutional monarch." --The


Book Description
A radical reassessment of King George III from the lively and prolific pen of a master Rather than reaffirming King George III's reputation as, alternately, a tyrant, a country bumpkin, and a lunatic, Christopher Hibbert portrays him not only as a competent ruler during most of his reign but also as a patron of the arts and sciences, a man of wit and intelligence who greatly enhanced the reputation of the British monarchy until he was stricken with a rare hereditary disease. Teeming with court machinations, sexual intrigues, and familial conflicts, George III opens a window on the tumultuous, rambunctious, revolutionary eighteenth century. It is sure to alter our understanding of this fascinating, complex, and very human king who so strongly shaped England's -and America's-destiny.


About the Author
Christopher Hibbert has written many well-received biographies, including, most recently, Queen Victoria. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an Honorary Doctor of Letters of Leicester University.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Every revolution needs a despot, a hated figure who inspires the rebels to remain stalwart in their struggle. Such was King George III to the American Revolution. After all, didn't he unfairly tax the colonists in an effort to keep them under his thumb? Didn't he ruthlessly attempt to quash their rebellion with trained Redcoats and German mercenaries? And didn't he go mad in the end? In George III, acclaimed historian and biographer Christopher Hibbert suggests that perhaps this long-reviled figure got a bit of a bum rap.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this new biography of the greatly misunderstood and misrepresented King, Christopher Hibbert offers us the most detailed, complex appraisal of George's character and actions. Teeming with court machinations, sexual intrigues, and familial conflicts, and peopled by such luminaries as Bach, Dr. Johnson, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Handel, Henry Fielding, Alexander Pope, Mozart, and the American Founding Fathers, George III opens a window on the tumultuous, rambunctious, revolutionary 18th century while stripping away the accrued layers of public pomp and popular misconceptions that have come to obscure King George. Hibbert's biography, both rollicking and scholarly, is sure to alter our understanding of this fascinating, complex, and very human King who so strongly shaped our own destiny.

FROM THE CRITICS

Valentine Cunningham - The New York Times Book Review

....The ramshackle Gothicity of the whole British royal business is lighted up as never before....a simply unputdownable theater of the personal and political absurd....It's an altogether entertaining set of absurd dramas...that involved real lives being messed up on and off the stage all over the place....Madness was...the trope of the day — inside, but also outside, the royal mansions.

Booknews

Offers a complex appraisal of George's character and actions, and details the King's involvement in matters of state and his intellectual curiosity. Discusses his views on taxation of the American colonists, and explains his unpredictable behavior as resulting from a rare hereditary disorder. Includes color and b&w illustrations and photos. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Valentine Cunningham - The New York Times Book Review

....[T]he ramshackle Gothicity of the whole British royal business is lighted up as never before....a simply unputdownable theater of the personal and political absurd....It's an altogether entertaining set of absurd dramas...that involved real lives being messed up on and off the stage all over the place....Madness was...the trope of the day -- inside, but also outside, the royal mansions.

Florence King - National Review