Last of the Dandies: The Scandalous Life and Escapades of Count D'Orsay
From his first appearance in London in 1821 until his death in Paris in 1852, Count D'Orsay dominated and scandalized the whole of European society. For three decades he was the ultimate arbiter in matters of taste and style -- what D'Orsay wore today, society would wear tomorrow. He also enthralled Society with the thirty-year soap opera of his relationship with Lady Blessington, whose daughter he married and with whose husband he was supected of having had an affair. Bisexual, flamboyant and outrageous, D'Orsay was said to have ruined the cream of British aristocracy. He toured Europe on an enormous spending spree; paid homage to a dying Lord Byron in Italy, set up a racing course in Notting Hill and a gambling den in St James's. Nick Foulkes' vivid biography of an astonishingly flamboyant figure is also the dazzling portrait of an era.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0312272561
ISBN13:9780312272562
Release Date:March 2005
Publisher:Thomas Dunne Books
Length:480 Pages
Weight:1.90 lbs.
Dimensions:1.5" x 6.4" x 9.6"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Entertaining view of stardom in interesting times
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
THis is a rather unusual book. It looks at a time in history where there was still enormous class distinction, and among the "upper class" there was scandal galore. And among the best of them was the Comte D'Orsay, handsome and witty Frenchman, who scandalised society with his wit, bisexuality and flagrant affiars with Lady Blessington, one of the beauties of her age. But this is not just a flippant story of a great scandal. Amongst D'Orsay's comtemporaries were Byron, Beau Brummel, the Bourbon Kings of Europe, and the descendents of Napoleon. These were interestng times, when Europe as a whole was deciding her fate. There are enough interesting snippets of greater history to make this book worth reading. But it is the letters and journals that make this book come alive. This is a time in history that I was not particularly familiar with, and to view it through the eyes of these flamboyant and wealthy characters, give it an interest and piquancy that nothing else could.
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