Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 4

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

Rating 3.8
Word count
637K words
Chapters
64

Tags

English Originals World HistoryGeneral Biography Historical ReappraisalCourt AnecdotesPolitical AllegoryPortrait GalleryPolitical CareerPower GamePower OppressionMemoir StylePolitical CommentaryDocumentary Narrative

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 Third, Volume 4 (of 4) by Horace WalpoleAuthor: Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Dec 19, 2018

Editor's review

This is the fourth volume of Horace Walpole's memoirs of the reign of George III, the concluding part of the work, a public-domain document in British history. Walpole stood at the center of politics and society; his writing offers keen portraits of character and preserves extensive detail of political maneuvering and court atmosphere, giving a strong sense of firsthand experience and personal judgment. As a memoir rather than strict historiography, its value lies in a warm observational perspective that can be read alongside formal histories. This is the final volume of the series, with characters and events built up in earlier volumes; reading it alone requires some knowledge of eighteenth-century British politics. It suits readers interested in modern British history and political character sketches, to be read slowly and savored.

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Reading tips

  1. First learn the main political figures and events of George III's reign, then enter this volume's details.
  2. Keep notes on relationships among characters to avoid confusion over many figures and positions.
  3. Compare Walpole's judgments with formal histories, distinguishing firsthand observation from personal bias.
  4. If time is limited, read passages on key events first, then fill in surrounding context.

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
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  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
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  11. 11
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  33. 33
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  35. 35
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  40. 40
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  50. 50
  51. 51
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  60. 60
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FAQ

Can I read Volume 4 without having read the first three? Yes, but it will be difficult. This volume concludes the work, and characters and events carry over from earlier volumes, with many references assuming prior knowledge. At least skim summaries of the first three volumes or relevant background first for smoother understanding.
How reliable is this memoir as a historical source? Walpole was a firsthand witness and provides much primary observation and court detail, but his writing carries distinct personal stance and emotional judgment, not neutral record. Read it as tendentious observational material alongside formal histories and archives, not as sole historical evidence.
Is the original English difficult to read? The original is eighteenth-century English with long sentences and dense references; forms of address and political terms pose barriers for modern readers. Those with good English can read slowly with background material; for content, a reliable translation can be read alongside.

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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.