George V
Never a Dull Moment
Published on 4. November 2021
Book
Hardback
576 pages
978-0-7011-8870-2 (ISBN)
Description
*A SPECTATOR AND TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2021 PICK*
**A DAILY TELEGRAPH '75 BEST BOOKS OF 2021' PICK**
The prequel to The Crown: the first truly candid portrait of George V and Mary, the Queen's grandparents and creators of the modern monarchy
The lasting reputation of George V is for dullness. His biographer Harold Nicolson famously quipped that 'he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps'.
But is that really all there was to King George, a monarch confronted by a series of crises thought to be the most testing faced by any twentieth-century British sovereign? As Tommy Lascelles, one of the most perceptive royal advisers, put it: 'He was dull, beyond dispute -- but my God, his reign never had a dull moment.'
Throughout his reign, George V navigated a constitutional crisis, the First World War, the fall of thirteen European monarchies and the rise of Bolshevism. The suffragette Emily Davison threw herself under his horse at the Derby, he refused asylum to his cousin the Tsar Nicholas II and he facilitated the first Labour government.
How this supposedly limited man steered the Crown through so many perils is a gripping tale. With unprecedented access to the archives, Jane Ridley has been able to reassess the many myths associated with this dramatic period for the first time.
'Superb . . . a perfectly candid portrait' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
'Riveting . . . Never a dull paragraph' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times
**A DAILY TELEGRAPH '75 BEST BOOKS OF 2021' PICK**
The prequel to The Crown: the first truly candid portrait of George V and Mary, the Queen's grandparents and creators of the modern monarchy
The lasting reputation of George V is for dullness. His biographer Harold Nicolson famously quipped that 'he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps'.
But is that really all there was to King George, a monarch confronted by a series of crises thought to be the most testing faced by any twentieth-century British sovereign? As Tommy Lascelles, one of the most perceptive royal advisers, put it: 'He was dull, beyond dispute -- but my God, his reign never had a dull moment.'
Throughout his reign, George V navigated a constitutional crisis, the First World War, the fall of thirteen European monarchies and the rise of Bolshevism. The suffragette Emily Davison threw herself under his horse at the Derby, he refused asylum to his cousin the Tsar Nicholas II and he facilitated the first Labour government.
How this supposedly limited man steered the Crown through so many perils is a gripping tale. With unprecedented access to the archives, Jane Ridley has been able to reassess the many myths associated with this dramatic period for the first time.
'Superb . . . a perfectly candid portrait' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph
'Riveting . . . Never a dull paragraph' Ysenda Maxtone Graham, The Times
Reviews / Votes
Most biographers would shy away from the notoriously dull George V. Not so Ridley, whose biography of the stamp-collecting, bird-shooting king is top-notch -- Robbie Millen * The Times, *Books of the Year* * Superb -- Iona McLaren * Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year* * Jane Ridley's George V is so sparklingly incisive about both the king and Queen Mary that it almost counts as a double biography. The pheasant-shooting, stamp-collecting, moderating monarch and his bejewelled, shopaholic consort are beautifully portrayed in all their complexities -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * Spectator, *Books of the Year* * Superb . . . a perfectly candid portrait of our present Queen's grandfather: demythologised, certainly, and with spades called spades, but not trivialised, and not denied full credit for the massive amount he achieved . . . Ridley's convincing thesis [is] that George V was the true begetter of modern constitutional monarchy . . . this book makes it clear we were lucky to have him -- Simon Heffer * Daily Telegraph * There have been few monarchs quite as discreet and inscrutable as George V . . . There's much to enjoy here about George's nerdy, hypochondriacal and rather humourless character. Yet, as Ridley portrays with great fairness, he somehow managed to be a king loved and revered by the people . . . Ridley has a wonderful ability to push the story along, luring us with salient details . . . riveting . . . Never a dull paragraph -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times * A 21st-century [biography] was overdue . . . and nobody could do it better than the immensely experienced Jane Ridley . . . The Windsors have always been emotionally handicapped, and in this respect George V was their prize exhibit -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times * A magnificent new life -- wonderfully funny, from its winning subtitle onwards, and full of human sympathy and understanding . . . an evocative and touching portrait of a surprisingly impressive man -- Philip Hensher * Spectator * The best royal biography since James Pope-Hennessy's Queen Mary (1959) . . . rivetingly interesting . . . sheds an entirely new light on both George V and his consort . . . Jane Ridley persuades us that their tactful handling of the many crises of the reign paved the way for the stable constitutional monarchy that persists to this day -- A. N. Wilson * Times Literary Supplement * Splendid -- Craig Brown * Daily Mail * Jane Ridley is a consummate storyteller and superb researcher. With a funny, analytical, sympathetic touch she both conveys the immediacy of history and invests those elusive, long-ago events and mysterious, long-dead people with a humanity recognisable to us all -- Juliet Nicolson A big beautiful beast of a book. Fair, thorough and unexpectedly funny, it won't be surpassed for decades -- Lucy Worsley Jane Ridley has written the definitive biography of George V. Sharply observed, revealing and very absorbing, 'dull George' and his dutiful wife, Mary, emerge in a new light as the monarchies of Europe crumble around them and the horrors of the early twentieth century unfold. At a pivotal time in the history of our democracy, with world leaders tested to their limits, Jane gives a gripping and authoritative account of what was happening behind palace doors -- Deborah Cadbury A truly inspirational new biography of George V -- A N Wilson * The Times * A superb book; arguably it is the best biography of George V... immensely readable, wonderfully researched -- Michael Nash * Eastern Daily Press * Ridley is good on the telling detail . . . lively and unstuffy -- Kate Hubbard * The Oldie * [George V] is candid, well written, based on wide research and full of piquant detail, some of it new -- Piers Bredon * Literary Review * This deeply researched biography casts new light upon the misunderstood monarch and his Queen, Mary of Teck. Illuminating, intensely readable -- Rose Shepard * Saga Magazine, *Christmas Gift Guide 2021* * Sparkling -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail Biographies of the Year * Riveting... Ridley brings new insight to George's personal life... Well-researched and entertaining, this book offers a vluable reassessment of a king who shaped modern Britain -- Heather Jones * BBC History Magazine * [A] graceful, funny book... Ridley offers fine-grained and astute sketches of members of the king's entourage as they came and went -- Michael Ledger-Lomas * London Review of Books *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 39 mm
Weight
1026 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7011-8870-2 (9780701188702)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jane Ridley is Professor of History at Buckingham University, where she teaches an MA course on biography. Her books include The Young Disraeli, acclaimed by Robert Blake as definitive; a highly praised study of the architect Edwin Lutyens and his relationship with his troubled wife, which won the Duff Cooper Prize; and Victoria, a short life written for the Penguin Monarchs series. Her most recent full biography, Bertie: A Life of Edward VII was a Sunday Times bestseller and one of the most critically acclaimed books of its year. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Ridley writes book reviews for the Spectator and other newspapers, and has also appeared on radio and several television documentaries. She lives in London and Scotland.