Entertaining and educational - can't recommend it highly enough
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With this biography of Beau Brummell, Ian Kelly has achieved that rarest of things - a biography which is unputdownable. In Kelly's hands, the story of Beau Brummell - son of a civil servant in Lord North's regime, a boy of humble origins who made briefly made good before ending his days ravaged by syphilis in a French lunatic assylum - is more readable than any novel I've read in the last few months. The rise and fall of Beau Brummell is described with wit, charm and verve - in short, with all the trademarks of the Beau himself. Beyond this, Kelly has produced an in-depth description of one of the most fascinating ages in our history - the tail end of the 18th Century and the lavish excesses of the Regency period.
Parallels between Brummell and any one of our current celebrities, who are famous merely for dressing nicely and going to parties, are subtly drawn but inescapable. Of course, Brummell had more class in his fingernail than Paris Hilton, say, could even dream of achieving, and the style of dressing that he pioneered will surely outlive any of our modern starlets with their gigantic sunglasses and tiny chihauhaus. But for a cautionary lesson in the transitory nature of fame, our 21st Century It girls and boys could do worse than look to poor Beau Brummell.
Be that as it may, this book is a must read for anyone with even the slightest interest in fame, fashion or British social history. You won't be disappointed.
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A Thoroughly Interesting Book On A Thoroughly Interesting Person
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I was telling a friend about reading this fascinating book on this fascinating person. He did not know who Beau Brummell was, and when he asked me, I found myself a bit stunned. Who was he, for a person living in Finland in the year 2006? What did he achieve, something that was lasting and meaningful? I stuttered something about his having been the leading arbiter of fashions in Regency London and a close friend of the Prince Regent, and that he had had massive influence on men's clothing and is the ultimate reason to why men still wear white shirts and why black is the colour of choice for men's evening-wear. I could see my friend wasn't satisfied.
After reading this book through I might have been able to answer more fully. Beau Brummell was a singular character who had great consequence in the highest circles of the British society in the Regency period without having a noble birth or high connections to recommend him. This he achieved, as far as I understand it, solely on the weight of his personality. To be sure, he had quite a lot of money, to begin with; but then, so had many others. His father was not a nobleman but a political careerist who amassed himself a fortune for his children to inherit; his grandfather was a valet. Brummell had received his education at Eton, which was certainly a help; it was also most providential that he came (as a younger son, too) into a part of his father's money as a young adult when he was just finding out what he wanted to do. He wanted to see, and to be seen.
In a way, Beau Brummell was in the beginning of his fame much like Jane Austen's Emma: handsome, clever, and rich. Blessed with a lively intelligence, with a way with words and lots of humour, with good looks, an unwavering self-esteem and as unwavering a belief in his own abilities, and an unerring eye for style, he was certain to catch everybody's eye, including that of the Prince of Wales. He did not imitate anybody, he created a style for himself that others started to imitate. His primary goal was not to be publicly accepted by the unintelligent hordes, but somehow he became the person by whom you had to be accepted if you wanted to be accepted at all. Everybody thought he was infallible when fashion and style were concerned, and the fundamental reason for this must have been that he believed in his own infallibility so strongly himself and never questioned his own taste.
Ian Kelly describes this fascinating person most interestingly, and whenever possible, he lets Brummell himself and his friends speak. What is totally absorbing in this book is the minute analysis of the life-style and attitudes of the people in Brummell's circles. For a dedicated georgetteheyerologist like myself this is a fount of riches, and I respect Georgette Heyer's knowledge of detail now even more than before. Every author of Regency period romances should read Kelly's book, at least, so as to avoid many most embarrassing errors when they try to invest their work with period "facts".
And to all this I must add that Ian Kelly writes with a most readable flow. As inane as it may sound, it was really hard to put this book down before having finished it, and I was lucky to have been on a vacation when reading it, so I could read it as long as I liked. Thank you, Ian Kelly, for this pleasure.
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'The' book on Brummell
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Brummell, as far as I can tell, didn't do a days work in his life, gambled his inheritence, borrowed from friends and fled to France when his debts caught him up. He lived the rest of his life on 'gifts' from friends and on credit, finally dying of syphilis in a French asylum.
In other words, a thoroughly fascinating character who was largely responsible for the move away from 'fop' excesses in dress to dandy simplicity. The best book on any subject I have read for some time.
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Masterful
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Beau Brummell by Ian King should be required reading for any interested in the Regency or the ton. King shines a brilliant light on the period from the masculine perspective. His thorough and painstaking research illuminates the life and times of one of the most influential men of the period. It is a treasure trove of detail, and insight into not only Brummell, but also the men and women who surrounded him.
If you enjoy Georgette Heyer or indeed Regency romance, you will find this book fascinating.
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