Leslie Mitchell
The Royal Menagerie
The Strangest Family: The Private Lives of George III, Queen Charlotte and the Hanoverians
By Janice Hadlow
William Collins 684pp £25
When George III became king in 1760, he allegedly remarked to an uncle that ‘it had not been common in their family to live well together; but he was determined to live well with all his family’. If this was intended to be a serious component of his royal project, he failed to achieve his aim in spectacular fashion. Quarrels with grandparents and siblings were followed by quarrels with sons and daughters. The Hanoverians seemed to be cursed in their personal lives unto the fourth and fifth generations.
The new king set out with the best of intentions, taking enormous trouble in the selection of a wife. Looking for une princesse solide, he drew up a list of German princesses who were available, detailing virtues and faults with the care of a breeder of prize cattle. Intellect and
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘I have to change’, Miles Davis once said. ‘It’s like a curse.’
@rwilliams1947 tells the story of how Davis made jazz cool.
Richard Williams - In Their Own Sweet Way
Richard Williams: In Their Own Sweet Way - 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lo...
literaryreview.co.uk
The Political Unconscious: Narrative as a Socially Symbolic Act by Fredric Jameson - review by Terry Eagleton via @Lit_Review
for the new(ish) April issue of @Lit_Review I commissioned a number of pieces, including Deborah Levy on Bowie, Rosa Lyster on creative non-fiction, @JonSavage1966 on Pulp, @mjohnharrison on Oyamada, @rwilliams1947 on Kind of Blue, @chris_power on HGarner