The Duchess

The Duchess
Amanda Foreman

Originally published as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.Sex, intrigue and adultery in the world of high politics and huge wealth in late eighteenth-century England.Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, was one of the most flamboyant and influential women of the eighteenth century. The great-great-great-great aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, she was variously a compulsive gambler, a political savante and operator of the highest order, a drug addict, an adulteress and the darling of the common people.This authoritative, utterly absorbing book presents a mesmerizing picture of a fascinating world of political and sexual intrigues, grand houses, huge parties, glamour and great wealth – always on the edge of being squandered by the excesses and scandals of individuals.Georgiana’s extraordinary life has now been made into a major film - starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes - which is due for release in summer 2008.

The Duchess

GEORGIANA:

DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE

AMANDA FOREMAN

Contents

Cover (#u8d093265-650e-5fd5-923f-c9f2b3fb5da1)

Title Page (#u2c8910f0-433d-5105-a51a-e814f355bc85)

Introduction (#u273dd4b8-aabe-5c8d-9871-b38d0b0a50b1)

Family Trees (#u1958295b-0043-5cc9-87c8-19111d8ef9f0)

Part One: Débutante (#u138b1a4b-7c07-552a-8269-65f695a2b8e7)

1 Debutante: 1757–1774 (#u0ec51cd8-2f59-5c43-86c1-f03497fe3d6b)

2 Fashion’s Favourite: 1774–1776 (#u976b6caa-d0e0-5585-ab0e-68c3ceaeb1a6)

3 The Vortex of Dissipation: 1776–1778 (#u75a566a7-1058-5c10-bb9e-167ccc258a9a)

4 A Popular Patriot: 1778–1781 (#u6a69ee70-dcb5-5b26-b46d-c1308581632b)

5 Introduction to Politics: 1780–1782 (#u845d1a7e-403e-567a-b02e-996597bfb133)

Part Two: Politics (#u18a7d78b-4634-5d69-ab80-e323f2e01ffb)

6 The Cuckoo Bird: 1782–1783 (#u863070f8-13f2-57f1-b82f-fe7c6cdccd91)

7 An Unstable Coalition: 1783 (#uc3e5908d-2cac-5d1b-aecc-e7b622363ff8)

8 A Birth and a Death: 1783–1784 (#litres_trial_promo)

9 The Westminster Election: 1784 (#litres_trial_promo)

10 Opposition: 1784–1786 (#litres_trial_promo)

11 Queen Bess: 1787 (#litres_trial_promo)

12 Ménage à Trois: 1788 (#litres_trial_promo)

13 The Regency Crisis: 1788–1789 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: Exile (#litres_trial_promo)

14 The Approaching Storm: 1789–1790 (#litres_trial_promo)

15 Exposure: 1790–1791 (#litres_trial_promo)

16 Exile: 1791–1793 (#litres_trial_promo)

17 Return: 1794–1796 (#litres_trial_promo)

18 Interlude: 1796 (#litres_trial_promo)

19 Isolation: 1796–1799 (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Four: Georgiana Redux (#litres_trial_promo)

20 Georgiana Redux: 1800–1801 (#litres_trial_promo)

21 Peace: 1801–1802 (#litres_trial_promo)

22 Power Struggles: 1802–1803 (#litres_trial_promo)

23 The Doyenne of the Whig Party: 1803–1804 (#litres_trial_promo)

24 ‘The Ministry of All the Talents’: 1804–1806 (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Select Bibliography (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Notes (#litres_trial_promo)

Praise (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#ulink_6db55ec2-a671-5b19-84a1-70a4d2816c10)

Biographers are notorious for falling in love with their subjects. It is the literary equivalent of the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, the phenomenon which leads hostages to feel sympathetic towards their captors. The biographer is, in a sense, a willing hostage, held captive for so long that he becomes hopelessly enthralled.