The truly odious Prince Regent, later George IV, was fat, vain, hateful to his family, cruel to his Queen and a spendthrift of the highest order: but he had great taste -- in interior decoration and clothing, food and wine. Much of what we admire of English literature, decor and architecture today blossomed during the early part of the 19th c. when George, Prince of Whales, waited and waited for his mad father, George III to succumb to prophyria. "Prince of Pleasure" does what few other books on the Regent bother to do -- it looks beyond George's excesses and flamboyance, his Chinese fantasy at Brighton, his parties for hundreds, his "secret" marriage to Marie Fitzherbert and all the other delightful gossip of history to the real political dynamics behind the boozing and building. Fox and Pitt get their due, along with Napolean and Wellington (who, with Nelson, were the superstars of their day), the lovely Duchess of Devonshire and her fast set (so well limned in the excellent "Georgianna")and other fascinating characters -- saints and sinners alike -- surrounding and surmounting "Prinny" and his very louche circle. A good compliment to Caroly Erickson's "Our Tempestuous Day," "Prince of Pleasure" is a real find for both the casual and serious reader of this period. Compare the legacy of this King of England who regularly passed out drunk in public, wore a corset and heavy make-up, frivoled away his reign and public funds on redecorating his various houses, married bigamously and tried to convict his wife of treason to get rid of her to the deadly dull Windsors sitting on the throne today, and try to remember why anyone got their knickers in a twist over "Squiggygate."
