Author:David Cannadine
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2018
'This is stupendous. The British nineteenth century, in all its complexity, all its horror, all its energy, all its hopes is laid bare. This is the definitive history, and will remain so for generations' A.N. Wilson
To live in nineteenth-century Britain was to experience an astonishing series of changes, of a kind for which there was simply no precedent in the human experience. There were revolutions in transport, communication, work; cities grew vast; scientific ideas made the intellectual landscape unrecognizable. This was an exhilarating time, but also a horrifying one.
In his dazzling new book David Cannadine has created a bold, fascinating new interpretation of the British nineteenth century in all its energy and dynamism, darkness and vice. This was a country which saw itself at the summit of the world. And yet it was a society also convulsed by doubt, fear and introspection. Victorious Century reframes a time at once strangely familiar and yet wholly unlike our own.
A book such as this is a work of heroic summary.
—— David Aaronovitch , The TimesMagnificent... a thumping great book, and it is probably destined to become a classic. Cannadine succeeds triumphantly.
—— Jane Ridley , SpectatorA sparkling history, immensely readable
—— GuardianThe narrative is studded with nuggets that illuminate the relationship between Britain and the sub-continent ... magisterial
—— Navtej Sarna , Financial TimesAn up close and personal story of the counterculture... as well as a rumination on the nature of friendship.
—— Choice Magazine **Pick of the Paperbacks**A lament for lost hope and a lost radicalism amid the conservatism of the contemporary world.
—— Teddy Jamieson , Glasgow HeraldIan Marchant is one of Britain’s most remarkable, but under-recognized, writers. He is a true chronicler of the country... You never quite know what he’s going to do next, but what you do know is that it will be fascinating, and beautifully written... This, I think, is the book Marchant was born to write: it’s a testament, a collection of tall tales that all turn out to be true... It’s one of those books that seems to lift off its own pages: it’s an enactment of the very thing it describes. It places a whole way of life in context, and becomes, defying chronology, part of that context itself. I can put it no plainer than that
—— Nicholas Lezard , Dhaka TribuneMade me laugh
—— **Books of the Year** , SpectatorA huge, generous, and fascinating study of the counterculture, from its earliest inception to Rave; and much of it seen through the prism of one unlikely survivor from the era
—— Nicholas Lezard , Best Holiday Reads, Evening StandardOn a scale suitable to its subject, King of the World is in one way an extended moral fable ... Mansel tells the story of these wars fluently and fairly
—— David Crane , SpectatorTo do [Louis XIV] justice and encapsulate his person, his plans, his successes and his failures, all which involved a dizzying cast of characters and a mind-numbing web of relationships, is no easy task. With his extensive studies of court ritual and his sympathy for the Bourbons, Philip Mansel is the man for the job. ... Mansel's descriptions of how Versailles functioned are masterful and high-entertaining.
—— Adam Zamoyski , StandpointMansel has mastered a bewildering array of primary and secondary sources dealing with his man and his time period, and he's invested his entire narrative with a kind of tightly compressed narrative energy that has the most unlikely effect imaginable: it turns a 600-page biography of King Louis XIV into a genuine page-turner of a reading experience. ...a genuinely impressive work...one of the year's grandest biographies..
thorough, scholarly and fluent... breath-taking... indispensable
—— Donald Lee , The Art NewspaperPhilip Mansel's superb King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV will become a classic. Magisterial and definitive, this is the life's work of one of our leading historians.
—— Jane Ridley , Spectator Books of the Yeara magnificent study of the life of Louis XIV. He shaped his own age and, partly because of some of his mistakes, helped to shape the future of France as well.
—— Chris Patten , The Tablet Books of the YearA wonderfully meticulous look at Louis XIV (1638-1715) from a leading historian of France. . . . An impressive, comprehensive biography of the Sun King-a must-add to any Francophile's library.
—— KirkusPhilip Mansel's King of the World: The Life of Louis XIV is just a masterwork and a superlative delight, written with sensitivity and worldliness, political acuity and personal empathy all in Mansel's usual elegant prose.
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Aspects of History Books of the YearMansel is a welcome prize for any reviewer. You will have a judicious guide, able to make well-founded assessments based not only on an understanding of the archives and printed sources, their riches and ambiguities, but also of the culture from which their assumptions stem.
—— Jeremy Black , The CriticNo other English-language biography has so successfully given us a portrait of him as man and monarch ... superb.
—— Gareth Russell , The TimesThe best single-volume account of the reign in any language
—— John Adamson , Sunday TimesAuthoritative ... Mansel is ideally positioned to examine Louis' record ... Time and space both yield before Mansel's authorial ambition
—— Minoo Dinshaw , Daily TelegraphA superb biography ... wonderfully detailed and fluent ... Mansel is alive to every nuance
—— Hamish Robinson , OldieAn utterly fascinating book on important aspects of contemporary Britain.
—— Marina Valzey , The Arts DeskAn alarming and essential read.
—— Olivia Ovenden , Esquire **10 Books We're Looking Forward To In 2018**London's Big Read wants to get the capital talking about [Brit(ish)] ... a personal and provocative exploration of British history, race, identity and belonging.
—— Jessie Thompson , Evening StandardAfua Hirsch's new book uses the personal and political to take a good look at what it's like to be a person of colour here, now. Here's where you'll get an insight into what it means to be a mixed race and univocally British, yet continuously plagued with the question 'but where are you really from?'
—— Jazmin Kopotsha , DebriefAn excellent read.
—— Stephen Bush , Telegraph[A] personal and admirably honest account of her journey towards self-realisation as a woman of colour.
—— Camden New JournalA fascinating...deeply intelligent, witty and often moving exploration of race in modern Britain
—— Samira Ahmed , Mail on SundayAfua Hirsch's first book, Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, was published to wide acclaim at the start of 2018. She looks at the many, multi-faceted questions that surround identity - both on a personal and societal scale - to pen a thought-provoking read.
—— Katie Berrington , VogueIt is a life-shaping read.
—— Chine McDonald , Church Times, **Readers' Books of the Year**Brit(ish) stands out from a crop of books on growing up mixed race in 70s Britain.
—— Gaby Hinsliff , Guardian, **Books of the Year**Brit(ish) is an essential read for all. Hirsch's exploration of her identity brings to light the difficulties of growing up as mixed-race and black in Britain. She also challenges the British perception of race, and how our inability to confront our past has profoundly affected our ability to coherently understand and discuss race in our present. Brit(ish) is a call to action, if we genuinely want to progress as a society, we must change our discussions and understanding of race.
—— Louisa Hanton , PalantinateA personal, political and challenging account of what it means to be British when you are racialised as Black. Hirsch is a brilliant and fearless intellect who deftly handles the complexity of the issues
—— Bernadine Evaristo, author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER , GuardianA beautifully written, poignantly honest memoir while also scrutinising modern history and popular culture. The breadth of Hirsch's focus is impressive... Her insights are numerous and profound, big and small, woven into the details of a personal life we can all learn from.
—— Jeffrey Boakye , ObserverA haunting investigation into family trauma and secrets from a forgotten England that turns out to lie closer to the surface than anyone suspected. Turning detective, she [Laura Cumming] interrogates old snapshots with the forensic skill of a professional art critic
—— Mark Mazower , New Statesman, *Books of the Year*On Chapel Sands starts by seeming to be about one kind of mystery but soon starts being about another, much more profound one… the subtlety and suspense of the narrative lies in the way Cumming allows details about their relationship to emerge slowly, like a photograph socking in developing fluid
—— Bee Wilson , London Review of BooksWith her critic’s eye, Cumming turns detective to investigate who took her mother and tell a pacy story about relationships, pride and the ramifications of what goes unsaid
—— Susannah Butter , Evening Standard, *Books of the Year*In a year strong in ingenious memoir, Laura Cumming’s On Chapel Sands…stood out, not just for its great storytelling but for Cumming’s wonderful ability to bring to life a Lincolnshire coastal community…its moods, characters and toxic secret-harbouring machinery
—— Claire Harman , Evening Standard, *Books of the Year*This beautifully written memoir of family mystery proved one of the surprise hits of 2019
—— James Marriot , The Times, *Books of the Year*[A] twisting literary mystery that also serves as a deeply moving love letter
—— Claire Allfree , Metro, *Books of the Year*A complex story of family secrets, beautifully written, and illustrated
—— Craig Brown , Mail on Sunday, *Books of the Year*A beautiful, multi-layered story full of lost love, human motivation and tender secrets
—— SheerLuxe[A] bewitching blend of history and mystery
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily MirrorA scrupulous work of storytelling, radiant with empathy and filial affection
—— Hephzibah Anderson , Observer