Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Second, Volume 1

Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
723K words
Chapters
73

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalPolitical AllegoryPortrait GalleryPower GamePower GamesSocial Observation

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Second, Volume 1 (of 3) by Horace WalpoleAuthor: Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Apr 21, 2018

Editor's review

Horace Walpole was an eighteenth-century English man of letters and a close observer of the politics of his time. This first volume of his memoirs records, from the perspective of a participant, the political figures and court life during the reign of George II. The tone is aristocratic in its wit and prejudice, with vivid character sketches and rich detail. Its value lies in providing a private narrative beyond official histories, allowing readers to sense the atmosphere and social networks of eighteenth-century English politics. The style is elegant but somewhat circuitous, with long sentences, posing a barrier for readers unfamiliar with the period's cast of characters. It suits researchers of British history, enthusiasts of eighteenth-century literature, and readers who enjoy memoirs and personal anecdotes. Reading alongside a chronological table of figures is recommended to clarify generational and party relationships.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Before reading, prepare a brief list of the main political figures of George II's reign for frequent reference.
  2. Take reading notes organized by figure, recording Walpole's praise and blame and noting his standpoint.
  3. Read the introduction or a related scholarly overview first to lower the barrier to understanding.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73

FAQ

Is this a complete history or a personal memoir? It is a memoir written by Walpole from personal experience, carrying a strong personal perspective and judgment; it is not a systematic historical work. Readers should treat it as a private narrative rather than a neutral record of facts.
Can I read it without a background in British history? You can try, but it will be laborious. The many figures, titles, and party relationships are unexplained, and without background knowledge it is easy to get lost. It is advisable to first acquire a basic grasp of the period's political landscape.
Which volume of the three is this? This is the first volume of the three-volume memoirs, covering the early part of George II's reign. For complete research, the remaining two volumes are needed.

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About the author

Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797 Author

Horace Walpole (1717–1797) was an English writer, letter writer and antiquarian. Details of his life available on this site are limited, yet his surviving works are enough to show his literary standing. The site holds nineteen of his works, mainly the two-volume Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, the multi-volume collections Letters of Horace Walpole and The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, and the Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto, included in Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century. The Castle of Otranto is often regarded as a founding work of Gothic fiction, with its castle setting, supernatural atmosphere and intense emotion opening a narrative mode of lasting influence. His letters and memoirs are lively and closely observed, and remain valuable sources for the politics and society of eighteenth-century Britain. The site classifies his works under inspirational growth, for reference.