Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion, and Great Houses

by Lucy Worsley

Book Overview

From the Chief Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces in England , a vivid portrait of a seventeenth-century nobleman, his household, and the dramatic decades surrounding the English Civil War. William... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596913584
• ISBN13: 9781596913585
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

An Unusually Good Book

I bought Ms. Worsley's volume a year ago without a clear understanding of what it was. The pile of books it landed on fell over in March and I picked this one up and started to read it -- and could not put it down until I had finished it. This is a perfectly proportioned, engagingly written, beautifully done work -- as much a work of art as those Ms. Worsley describes in passing as she goes about recreating the 17th Century {for those of us who missed it} in a way that makes the reader live it. Too many books are too long ; but I finished this one wishing it had been longer. If C.V. Wedgwood were alive, she would buy a copy. She might buy them all, to suppress a rising rival . Bravo, Lucy Worsley.

Cavalier

Cavalier is a seriously engaging read. There seems to have been renewed interest in Britain recently in the 17th Century and the Civil War, perhaps because the ferocity of the struggle in which religion and politics were so closely intertwined, has some strong resemblance to contemporary world politics. Cavalier absorbs the reader at two levels. First is the career of the aristocrat whose life spanned much of the century, but second are the splendidly detailed descriptions of how a great household lived and worked. Lucy Worsley, who is Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces in Britain, weaves these themes together brilliantly. For the book has the excitement and vivacity of a larger than life figure, his loves, his houses, his remarkable marriages, his mentorship of the young Charles II, and his disastrous experience at the Battle of Marston Moor followed by exile. Yet it also has the exact, even mundane detail of daily life, with wonderful portraits of major figures in the life of the house. My favourite passage describes the progression of the lord's overnight chamber pot as it makes its way through the the house to the place of its disposal! I can't wait for Worsley's next book which is focussed on court life in the early part of the 18th century.

ONE FAMILY'S ENGLISH CIVIL WAR

The Cavendish family from middle England (Sheffield to Sherwood Forest to Nottingham), knighted, rich, powerful, and land entitled, is the focus of this recently issued study of an English family both pre and post civil war, one losing almost everything in their support of Charles I. This book may be a little known one at present but for any interested in the English Civil War years of 1642-1660, it offers an in depth view of one family during those years. This family loved horse, castles, great estates, Charles I and family, and just plain high living whenever possible. A book not soon to be forgotten, but very enjoyable as the reader moves along. The author has spent nearly 10 years researching and reviewing extant written materials from the family, with the book indeed giving evidence of that study. William Cavendish left many writings and a diary covering almost every topic of his personal life. Several color photos of the lands and houses left by these people are dutifully included. By books end the reader fairly well comes to know this cavalier family in specific and many other cavaliers in general. This is a definate addition to English history during these years, for both major figures and minor alike. Check this one out you lovers of Roundheads versus Cavaliers. Recommended. Semper Fi.