Insatiable Earl: A Life of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich

by Nicholas A.M. Rodger and N.A.M. Rodger

Book Overview

No historical figure of 18th-century England has been more grossly misrepresented than the inventor of our favourite fast food. The stereotype is well known: an unscrupulous man of pleasure whose... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393035875
• ISBN13: 9780393035872
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 425 Pages
• Weight: 2.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Spirited Defense of a Great Man

Lord Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, is often derided for three reasons. First, because as Secretary of State under Lord North he was responsible - in part - for the British conduct of the Revolutionary War. Second, because he prosecuted a fellow called Wilke for obscenity, prompting a series of celebrated insults by the aforesaid Wilkes and his followers. Third, and most memorably, because he invented the sandwich to enable him to practice his gambling habit without leaving the card tables - in other words, to enable him to be the stereotypical 18th century rake. As Rodger's illuminating life of Montagu reveals, none of those criticism are fair. His conduct of the American war was, for the most part, efficient and thoughtful, and he successfully masterminded the naval defense of Britain at a time where a Franco-Spanish invasion was a real possibility. In particular, the record exculpates him from responsibilty for the failure of the Saratoga campaign, and actually shows that it was Montagu who should take much of the credit for the subsequent British naval recoveries of the early 1780s. As for Wilkes, he was a worthless scoundrel who deserved all the punishment he got, along with a lot more. Finally, he was no rake: his financial affairs, though complex, were not those of a compulsive gambler, and he only ever had one mistress, who, for all purposes, was a de facto wife to whom he was devoted (his actual wife went mad and didn't live with him). Culturally, he was chiefly responsible for the revival of Handel, and took a leading role in promoting cricket. An portrait of an attractive and interesting figure, and a spirited demolition job on his detractors.