Fortune Hunter
"An entertaining story intelligently and fluently retold." - TLS "[A] sprightly and engaging book of more than anecdotal interest." - Spectator "Bowman has trawled deep in the archives to brush the dust off Prince Pueckler's portrait and restore him to us as a man of singular charm, culture and good humour... Bowman, a scrupulous historian with an eye for lively detail, performs a splendid job." - Literary Review "Bowman's treatment of his elusive subject is masterly, not to say brilliant, and his research has been admirably thorough. But what is more remarkable is his ability to turn that heavy-duty labour into eminently readable prose." - Journal of European Studies "An account both thorough and elegant." - Sachsische Zeitung "Bowman's prose is entertaining and assured. He clearly holds his incorrigible subject in great affection and ensures that his reader does too, in spite of Pueckler's foibles. " - The Tablet "Valuable and very enjoyable." - Jane Austen Society Newsletter "A scholarly and entertaining account of an extraordinary character." - Hampstead & Highgate Express
The two decades after Waterloo marked the great age of foreign fortune hunters in England. Each year brought a new influx of impecunious Continental noblemen to the world's richest country, and the more brides they carried off, the more alarmed society became. Les mer
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The story is enriched with details of his social life among the resident diplomats, his gambling and money troubles, his love affairs with a French seamstress and a German opera singer, and the hours he spent with the capital's prostitutes. Puckler is the most intelligent of the overseas visitors who noted their impressions of Regency England. His matrimonial quest brings him into contact with such luminaries as Walter Scott, George Canning, Princess Lieven, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, Beau Brummell and John Nash. The object of many rumours and caricatures, the prince sticks doggedly to his task for nearly two years. And just when it seems that he has failed, England fills his coffers in the most unexpected way, and in doing so launches him on a new career. In telling the story of Puckler's adventures in the context of the trend for Anglo-European marriages based on the exchange of a title for money, The Fortune Hunter writes a new chapter in the history of England's relationship with its Continental neighbours.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Signal Books Ltd
- Innbinding
- Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781909930032
- Utgivelsesår
- 2014
- Format
- 20 x 16 cm
Anmeldelser
"An entertaining story intelligently and fluently retold." - TLS "[A] sprightly and engaging book of more than anecdotal interest." - Spectator "Bowman has trawled deep in the archives to brush the dust off Prince Pueckler's portrait and restore him to us as a man of singular charm, culture and good humour... Bowman, a scrupulous historian with an eye for lively detail, performs a splendid job." - Literary Review "Bowman's treatment of his elusive subject is masterly, not to say brilliant, and his research has been admirably thorough. But what is more remarkable is his ability to turn that heavy-duty labour into eminently readable prose." - Journal of European Studies "An account both thorough and elegant." - Sachsische Zeitung "Bowman's prose is entertaining and assured. He clearly holds his incorrigible subject in great affection and ensures that his reader does too, in spite of Pueckler's foibles. " - The Tablet "Valuable and very enjoyable." - Jane Austen Society Newsletter "A scholarly and entertaining account of an extraordinary character." - Hampstead & Highgate Express