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George III
George III: The Life and Reign of Britain's Most Misunderstood Monarch | Andrew Roberts
7 posts | 3 read | 8 to read
The Times Book of the Year *Winner of the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography, 2022* *Winner of the General Society of Colonial Wars' Distinguished Book Award, 2021* *Winner of the History Reclaimed Book of the Year, 2022* *Shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize, 2021* Andrew Roberts, one of Britain's premier historians, overturns the received wisdom on George III George III, Britain's longest-reigning king, has gone down in history as 'the cruellest tyrant of this age' (Thomas Paine, eighteenth century), 'a sovereign who inflicted more profound and enduring injuries upon this country than any other modern English king' (W.E.H. Lecky, nineteenth century), 'one of England's most disastrous kings' (J.H. Plumb, twentieth century) and as the pompous monarch of the musical Hamilton (twenty-first century). Andrew Roberts's magnificent new biography takes entirely the opposite view. It portrays George as intelligent, benevolent, scrupulously devoted to the constitution of his country and (as head of government as well as head of state) navigating the turbulence of eighteenth-century politics with a strong sense of honour and duty. He was a devoted husband and family man, a great patron of the arts and sciences, keen to advance Britain's agricultural capacity ('Farmer George') and determined that her horizons should be global. He could be stubborn and self-righteous, but he was also brave, brushing aside numerous assassination attempts, galvanising his ministers and generals at moments of crisis and stoical in the face of his descent - five times during his life - into a horrifying loss of mind. The book gives a detailed, revisionist account of the American Revolutionary War, persuasively taking apart a significant proportion of the Declaration of Independence, which Roberts shows to be largely Jeffersonian propaganda. In a later war, he describes how George's support for William Pitt was crucial in the battle against Napoleon. And he makes a convincing, modern diagnosis of George's terrible malady, very different to the widely accepted medical view and to popular portrayals. Roberts writes, 'the people who knew George III best loved him the most', and that far from being a tyrant or incompetent, George III was one of our most admirable monarchs. The diarist Fanny Burney, who spent four years at his court and saw him often, wrote 'A noble sovereign this is, and when justice is done to him, he will be as such acknowledged'. In presenting this fresh view of Britain's most misunderstood monarch, George III shows one of Britain's premier historians at his sparkling best.
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AllDebooks
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Pickpick

I don't think I can begin to explain how important this book is. It is a masterful biography of a maligned King.

George III was one of the most grossly misrepresented, misunderstood man of his time. The misunderstanding is ours, given the evidence available to us, all of which paints a tyrannical figure. Nothing could be further from the truth. Roberts patiently unravels new evidence from Queen Elizabeth's recent release of Georgian papers. ⬇️⬇️

AllDebooks This new evidence reveals what an intelligent, kind man he was, of impeccable integrity, curiosity and fairness. He brought in a constitutional monarchy, paved the way for arts and sciences to flourish. In his long reign, he made a great impact. His accomplishments are many, yet prosperity knows him as the tyrannical, mad King. Read this book and know the real Farmer George. https://georgianpapers.com/explore-the-collections/ 9mo
TheBookHippie Sold! I‘ll read it! 9mo
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AllDebooks @TheBookHippie I highly recommend it. So many historical events happened during his reign. 9mo
TheBookHippie @AllDebooks actually Queen Charlotte on Netflix probably portrays him the most accurate or closest to truth. I was looking for a book so I‘m so glad you have read one to recommend ! 9mo
AllDebooks @TheBookHippie I read it because of that show. It portrayal of him was so unlike what I knew of him. Sparked my curiosity 9mo
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AllDebooks
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#JoyousJune roundup so far

I've finished 2 audiobooks, Blue machine - how the ocean shapes our world by Helen Czerneski and Pathogenesis - how germs made history by Jonathan Kennedy (both 4⭐️)

I've hit the halfway mark on tagged which is great.

3/4 way through #Netgalley arc of Brotherless night

Not a bad week really @Andrew65

Andrew65 A excellent week, well done. 👏👏👏 A very interesting King to read about. 9mo
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AllDebooks
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#Naturalitsy #Midsummersolace #Photochallenge

Day 13 - Picnic

A perfect day for a healthy picnic lunch in the sun 🌞

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AllDebooks
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#FirstLineFridays

"As he prances on to the stage in Hamilton: An American Musical, singing three show-stopping numbers, King George III somehow manages to be comic, yet cruel, camp yet sinister."

@ShyBookOwl

Cinfhen This sounds fun 🤩 10mo
AllDebooks It's fascinating! Although I wish I'd saved it for July 😅 Too engrossed to stop. 10mo
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jenniferw88 George III is too late for the Civil War - you need Charles I/II or James I/II if you want to do royalty! 10mo
AllDebooks @jenniferw88 oh I must have misread the prompt, I thought it was 17th century 10mo
jenniferw88 @AllDebooks it is 17th - George is 1738-1828, so 18th and 19th century. You're looking for dates between 1600-1699. This is just before my MA period, so know the period quite well! I have a post on my profile with some possible books for the era if you want to get some ideas! 10mo
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AllDebooks
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I'm joining in #JoysofJune readathon hosted by @Andrew65 Are you?

I'll aim to make a big dent in the tagged, my 1st book for #14books14weeks @TheHeartlandBookFairy

Also hoping to get through a few arcs for #NGGSummerSmashup

Here's hoping for peaceful, sunny days 🌞🍸

Andrew65 Great to have you with us, best of luck 😁Thanks for sharing. 😍 10mo
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tphil10283
Pickpick

This is one of the best history books I have ever read in terms of being entertaining and giving me novel ideas about the foundation of the United States. I recommend it highly for anyone that‘s interested in American and British history.

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Ericalambbrown
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Pickpick

I finished this chonktastic tome this rainy weekend. Unfortunately, I missed a lecture by the author last week - I can‘t believe he was in Columbia, MO - when he came to speak. This is the first book on George III since a massive project to digitize his papers began in 2017. Lots of new info, including evidence that the porphyria hypothesis is not correct, which I had suspected since working on my biotech degree. Good book on George & his times.

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