John Wilkes: The Lives of a LibertineAshgate, 2006 - 282 Seiten John Wilkes remains one of the most colourful and intriguing characters of eighteenth-century Britain. Born in 1725, the son of a prosperous London distiller, he was given the classical education of a gentleman, before entering politics as a Whig. Finding his party in opposition following the accession of George III in 1760 he took up his pen with sensational effect, and made a career out of excoriating the new administration and promoting the Whig interest. His charismatic style and vicious wit soon ensured that he became a figurehead for the radical cause, earning him many admirers and many enemies. Amongst the latter were the king, and the artist William Hogarth who famously depicted Wilkes as a grinning, squint-eyed, pug-nosed agent of misrule. Whilst Wilkes's political career has been much explored, particularly the period between 1763 and 1774, much less has been written about his remarkable private life. This biography provides a more comprehensive examination of Wilkes throughout his long life than has hitherto been available. Taking a thematic, rather than chronological approach it is divided into six main chapters covering family, ambition, sex, religion, class and money, which allows a much more rounded picture of Wilkes to emerge. In so doing it provides a fascinating insight, not only into one of the most intriguing characters of the Georgian period, but also into wider eighteenth-century British society and its shifting attitudes to morality, politics and gender. |
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Seite 56
... king's well - meaning gesture annoyed the ' old Whigs ' , especially the Duke of Newcastle , who had been around long enough to remember that distant time when the Tories were a genuine threat to Whig hegemony . Wilkes , though , saw no ...
... king's well - meaning gesture annoyed the ' old Whigs ' , especially the Duke of Newcastle , who had been around long enough to remember that distant time when the Tories were a genuine threat to Whig hegemony . Wilkes , though , saw no ...
Seite 231
... King's Bench Debtors Wilkes's confinement in the King's Bench Prison heightened the association between his political cause and that of the debtor . Wilkes was not , of course , himself confined for debt , but many of his fellow ...
... King's Bench Debtors Wilkes's confinement in the King's Bench Prison heightened the association between his political cause and that of the debtor . Wilkes was not , of course , himself confined for debt , but many of his fellow ...
Seite 259
... King's Bench , during the Time Lord Mansfield Presided in that Court , 5 vols . London , 1812 . [ Butler , Charles ] Reminiscences of Charles Butler , Esq . of Lincoln's Inn , 2 vols . London , 1822 . [ Byron ] Selected Poems of Byron ...
... King's Bench , during the Time Lord Mansfield Presided in that Court , 5 vols . London , 1812 . [ Butler , Charles ] Reminiscences of Charles Butler , Esq . of Lincoln's Inn , 2 vols . London , 1822 . [ Byron ] Selected Poems of Byron ...
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