The Secret History of the Court of England

- Blurb -

The Georgian era, we are told, was a "polite and commercial" era. The supposedly refined aristocracy governed the nation while the bourgeoisie, at the centre of the largest empire the world had ever known, expanded the nation' s overseas trading interests while currying royal favours. It was an era which witnessed the flowering of art, literature, and music. But at the heart of the British Empire was something rotten: Vice, corruption, and crime reigned supreme. Someone had had enough and decided to expose this and so, in 1832, a curious book appeared for sale titled The Secret History of the Court of England. Written by Olivia Serres under the pseudonym of "Lady Anne Hamilton," this was a sensational chronicle of the crime, vice, and debauchery designed to shock and titillate its reader. It contained a number of accusations against establishment figures: Was George IV guilty of bigamy? What was the Prince' s true relationship with one Mrs Robinson? Did the Duke of Cumberland' s servant Mr Sellis really commit suicide or was he MURERED IN COLD BLOOD? All these questions, and more, will be answered in Lady Anne Hamilton' s Secret History of the Court of England, originally published in 1832 and reprinted at long last! AUTHOR: The Secret History of the Court of England was written by a woman calling herself "Lady Anne Hamilton" in 1832. However, "Lady Anne Hamilton" was a pseudonym for Olivia Serres (1772 1834). Her intention was to expose the immorality of the "polite" Georgian court. Edited by Dr Stephen Basdeo, who has spent over a decade researching eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature and culture. Foreword by Dr Rachael Gillibrand, Lecturer in History at the University of Leeds. 32 b/w illustrations