The Last King of America

The physical book is magnificent quality. Andrew Roberts has been one of my favorite historians for quite some time and this does not disappoint. I've studied a fair amount of English history but the details of Parliamentary tactics and ministries has been a welcome addition to my headspace.

I confess that, like most others, I always dismissed King George III as nothing more than a tyrannical simpleton whose most notable achievement was going mad. This new biography from Andrew Roberts eloquently disposes of that myth.Part of the success of this work derives from Dr Roberts' careful analysis of the voluminous Georgian Papers that were previously uncatalogued and mostly unpublished. They revealed that there was much more to learn about George III.Rather than a demonic despot, George is shown to have been intelligent, perceptive, dutiful, patriotic, well educated and, perhaps most surprising of all, monogamous. He had a keen interest in science and the arts and was a significant patron of both. George actively participated in the intricate political manoeuvring of his day and the dizzying changes in ministers and titles, offers of peerages, honours, posts, sinecures and pensions show that eighteenth century English politics was more complicated and dynamic than in the present era.This meticulously researched volume is written in perfectly polished prose and will be an informative delight to anyone interested in a critical period in English history. i recommend it with unbridled enthusiasm.

The author loves George III !!! He makes some good points in his defense, e.g., the overkill criticism of the King in the Declaration of Independence. I think he goes too far in trying to make the case that "Taxation Without Representation" was just a pretext. I didn't buy his argument on that, even though he tried mightily to make it. He contends that the Colonists were ready to strike out on their own and they needed a pretext. He claims the Colonists waited until the British defeated the French and made the West safer before pulling the plug. I suspect that the war between the British and the French was about much more than the West in America.

Andrew Roberts is a reliably good writer, and this revisionist biography of King George is another enlightening, enjoyable book from his hands. Americans know King George as the villain of the drama in the mythical version of our War of Independence. But, as Roberts shows, the would-be tyrant, as depicted in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, is mostly wartime propaganda. George III, as Roberts depicts him, was personally kind, brave, devout, patriotic, and cultured, and he was committed to the British constitution as he understood it. He was not, and did not want to be, a tyrant. But, as a ruler, it is the result of his policies more than his personal character or intentions which matters, and George gets mixed marks. He was unable to see a creative solution to the rising strength and autonomy of the North American colonies. Nonetheless, the King bears only part of the blame for this. None of his government ministers were able to find a political solution short of war, either. George was stubborn, and this probably served Britain poorly when persevering in the American conflict. But his perseverance served his country well in its long struggle with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, which was truly a war for national survival. This fundamentally decent and well-intentioned man endured many years of war, a pack of wretched children, as well as public vilification, much of it unfair and undeserved. These burdens no doubt contributed to the mental illness which eventually consumed him, and it is touching and sad to read about the disintegration of a man we come to know across the chapters of this beautifully executed book. I bought this book less because of any interest in the subject, but out of certainty that any book by Roberts, who is at the peak of his powers, would be good. I found the life of George III to be of greater interest than I expected, and the talents of the author to be every bit as good as I knew they would be. Highly recommended.

This amazingly erudite and researched tome by Mr. Roberts enables us even more to understand the great hypocrisy of the American Revolution beginning with "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal" and continuing with the spurious charges against George III. However, physically I find the book difficult to hold and the print difficult to read which makes my pace frustratingly slow. I am amazed by the depth of Mr. Roberts scholarship after previously writing about Churchill and Napoleon.