Curzon: Imperial Statesman

David Gilmour

Aug. 2019 · Penguin UK

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'A fast-moving, entertaining and finely written story' Simon Schama

'Masterly ... a remarkable portrait of a brilliant complex and tragic genius' William Dalrymple, Los Angeles Times

George Nathaniel Curzon's controversial life in public service stretched from the high noon of the British Empire to the traumatized years following the First World War. As Viceroy of India under Queen Victoria and Foreign Secretary under George V, the obsessive Lord Curzon left his unmistakable mark on the era. David Gilmour's lucid and elegant biography is a brilliant assessment of Curzon's character and achievements, offering a rich and dramatic account of the infamous vendettas, the turbulent friendships, and the passionate, reckless love affairs that complicated and enriched his life.

'A magnificent work ... entirely convincing in its evocation of Curzon's extraordinary character ... It is, in short, the definitive life' David Cannadine, Observer

'Exemplary biography ... meticulously researched and elegantly written' C.A.Bayly, The Times Literary Supplement

'A superb new biography ... a tragic story, brilliantly told' Andrew Roberts, Literary Review

'An absorbing, witty and intelligent biography ... David Gilmour's mix of erudition, hard analysis and quizzical amusement will give this volume a unique place on the ever more crowded shelves of political biography' Ben Pimlott, Independent on Sunday

Autoren-Profil

David Gilmour is one of Britain's most admired and accomplished historical writers and biographers. He is the author of lives of George Curzon (Duff Cooper Prize) and Rudyard Kipling (Elizabeth Longford Prize) and of The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj, an acclaimed study of the administrators of Victorian India. His other works include The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, its Regions and their Peoples, The Last Leopard, a biography of Giuseppe di Lampedusa (Marsh Biography Award) as well as several books on the modern history of Spain and the Middle East. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a former Research Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.