{"product_id":"the-scapegoat-the-brilliant-brief-life-of-the-duke-of-buckingham","title":"The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Plutarch Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Publishing Triangle's Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize, an extraordinary historical biography of the meteoric rise and fall of George Villiers, the first Duke of Buckingham.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs King James I's favorite, Buckingham was also his confidant, gatekeeper, advisor and lover. When Charles I succeeded his father, he was similarly enthralled and made Buckingham his best friend and mentor. A dazzling figure on horseback and a skillful player of the political game, Buckingham rapidly transformed the influence his beauty gave him into immense wealth and power. In a gripping narrative of the Stuart court, he became one of the most flamboyant and enigmatic Englishmen at the heart of seventeenth-century royal and political life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith a novelist's touch, Lucy Hughes-Hallett transports us into a courtly world of masques and dancing, exquisite clothes, the art of Rubens and Van Dyck, gender-fluidity, same-sex desire in 17th-century England, and appallingly rudimentary medicine. Witch hunts coexisted with Descartian rationality and public opinion was becoming a political force. Falling from grace spectacularly, Buckingham came to represent everything that was wrong with the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom kidnappings and murder plots to men weeping in Parliament over civil liberties, \u003ci\u003eThe Scapegoat\u003c\/i\u003e navigates love, war-fever and pacifism in a society on the brink of cataclysmic change. In this immersive and authoritative account of a powerful royal favorite, Hughes-Hallett summons an era that still resonates today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis meticulously researched biography illuminates the dramatic life of the man who defined an era: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA Royal Favorite's Rise and Fall: \u003c\/b\u003e Follow George Villiers's extraordinary journey from King James I's lover to the most powerful--and hated--man in England, charting his dazzling ascent and spectacular downfall.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eIntrigue in the Stuart Court: \u003c\/b\u003e Explore a world of political maneuvering, murder plots, and shifting allegiances as Buckingham navigates the treacherous landscape of Jacobean and Caroline England.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSame-Sex Desire and Gender Fluidity: \u003c\/b\u003e Discover a vivid portrait of 17th-century courtly life where same-sex relationships and gender-fluid expression were an open, and powerful, part of the social fabric.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn Immersive Historical Narrative: \u003c\/b\u003e Written with a novelist's flair, this award-winning account transports you to a society on the brink of civil war, bringing a pivotal period of British history to life.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48515925115129,"sku":"9780062940131","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/1811\/7625\/files\/imageloader_9d28671b-050f-4111-adfd-25702e650bbd.jpg?v=1781209589","url":"https:\/\/hookeandplotte.com\/products\/the-scapegoat-the-brilliant-brief-life-of-the-duke-of-buckingham","provider":"Hooke and Plotte Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}